RationalPlan

4.4 (99)
Easy to use and affordable project management software

Overall rating

4.4 /5
(99)
Value for Money
4.7/5
Features
4.3/5
Ease of Use
4.4/5
Customer Support
4.5/5

92%
recommended this app
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99 Reviews

Gary
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Excellent program

Reviewed on 9/11/2018

Pros

Easy to use and lots of detail
Looks professional

Cons

Would like to have the ability to link tasks from the middle of a task to the start of another

John
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  • Review Source

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  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

RationalPlan Multi

Reviewed on 15/2/2014

Project Management has always a balancing act, sometimes taking a great deal of time to accurately...

Project Management has always a balancing act, sometimes taking a great deal of time to accurately schedule projects, manage resources etc... For years we have used MS Project for doing just this. That is until we found RationalPlan, and we haven't looked back. This software is truly a hidden gem. It offers similar power to MS Project, with a simplified layout, client organizing, work breakdown, scheduling, Gantt chart's etc. etc. It also supports import and export of MS Project files, so for those clients who use MS Project, transferring data back and forth is quite simple. In closing, RationalPlan allows us to plan and communicate with our clients very clearly and has far exceeded our expectations. We now use this software daily for multiple projects, and always have a clear view throughout . It does seems to take far less time to accurately set each up. We have begun to roll this out to our company and have not run into any issues regarding this transition. All in all I cannot say enough about this software and company. The support staff is extremely responsive and friendly. Thank You for a great product.

Elisabeth
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  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use

Ease of Use - Missing Function MULTI

Reviewed on 22/11/2013

Dear Sirs,

I have thoroughly tested your product and found it very intuitive, however especially...

Dear Sirs,

I have thoroughly tested your product and found it very intuitive, however especially for a Multiproject plan it is necessary that one and the same ressource (Person) can have different pricing ( e.g. internal/external project/special price project) but is only limited with time per day. I think it would be better to allow a cost change within the project and to eliminate it at the ressource or make the cost more flexible with more prices to choose.

Response from Stand By Soft

Thanks for the feedback Elisabeth, this is on the to-do list but I can not commit for a due date yet as there are a lot of things on the server version

Bill
Overall rating
  • Industry: Management Consulting
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Bill's MyReview

Reviewed on 1/3/2017

I think this is the best project management software for the Mac at an affordable price. It is easy...

I think this is the best project management software for the Mac at an affordable price. It is easy to use with most of the features found in the Microsoft project management softwareI am still wishing for a PERT Chart

Pros

I use this software to help me develop proposals.

Cons

Only thing I miss is the PERT Chart

Leonardo
Overall rating
  • Industry: Oil & Energy
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

good but...

Reviewed on 17/2/2017

It's good value for money but the options to print the Gantt diagram are confused or non existent....

It's good value for money but the options to print the Gantt diagram are confused or non existent. There no options to limit the dates for the printing (ie. I want to print form january to september eventhough the Project goes to december), there is no option to copy the diagram to another application, so we have to print in PDF and then copy it, etc. It's not friendly for report elaboration.

Pros

Value for money, does the work

Cons

It's not very friendly, lack of features to ease the elaboration of reports

Sandra
Overall rating
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

Very good software at a reasonable price

Reviewed on 18/7/2017

I was able to provide it to many people in the organization for a reasonable price, with the...

I was able to provide it to many people in the organization for a reasonable price, with the assurance of knowing that it incorporates good, solid project management principles.

Pros

It most closely resembles the functionality in MS Project for a fraction of the price. It was obviously created by someone who understands project management, as evidenced by the list of steps on the left side. It supports dependencies, durations, and resource allocations that work together to come up with a completion date.

Cons

Online help documentation is practically non-existent, and the only apparent support is through email.

William
Overall rating
  • Industry: Financial Services
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Good Software

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

I have been using this software to develop project plans for my business...its ease of use and its...

I have been using this software to develop project plans for my business...its ease of use and its functional capabilities make it a great tool to develop complex (and even simple) project plans and over all management of planning an budgeting. I would highly recommend this software to anyone who wants an alternate to microsoft....

I have been using project management software since 1983 (CPM or critical path project management software even before microsoft project).

Pros

its a great low cost project management tool...

Cons

You should have some prior project management experience to better take advantage of all of the powerful features of this product.

Tarvo
Overall rating
  • Industry: Architecture & Planning
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Quite positive

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

We are using RationalPlan already several years and this tool enable to make project plan quite...

We are using RationalPlan already several years and this tool enable to make project plan quite easy way, unlike MS Project, which require much more ecperience/time. So there is much value for money.

Pros

All needed functionality is there. Easy to learn.

Cons

NOthuing

Dwayne
Overall rating
  • Industry: Oil & Energy
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

Rational Scheduling

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

Does everything I need it to. Does whatever I would be using Micro$oft Project to do but at a price...

Does everything I need it to. Does whatever I would be using Micro$oft Project to do but at a price that anyone can afford.

Pros

Does what I need it to. Has the functionality of what I'd use MS Project to do.

Cons

Inability to save directly to native MS Project file format.

Laurel
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  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Very nice and easy to use

Reviewed on 9/12/2016

My company was looking for a new project management software and RationalPlan kept popping up to...

My company was looking for a new project management software and RationalPlan kept popping up to the top. I was able to get a demo copy immediately (a big plus) and began using it right away. I was impressed. It was easy to use which is important because many of our end users need to get up and running quickly without a huge learning curve for all the bells and whistles. One of the features I really like is to be able to lock a date on a task or milestone when dependencies are enabled. Our last software kept moving this date which quickly became a nightmare. We needed the dates locked. I recommend this software.

Pros

Easy to use

Cons

I was getting an error about having tasks outside the project date range but couldn't find it. It was actually in the Info section for the Estimated Start Date. Once I found this, the errors went away.

Randall
Overall rating
  • Industry: Management Consulting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Rational Plan Review

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

I have been a paid user of rational plan for a number of years. My experience has been nothing but...

I have been a paid user of rational plan for a number of years. My experience has been nothing but positive. It's more than a cheaper alternative to Microsoft project. It goes almost you're to toe with it. The interface is still not as polished, but they keep improving and their customer service is spot on. I really recommend it to those needing project planning power but want better value for their money.

Pros

Easy to use. Mimics most of features of Microsoft Project. Great customer service. Good export options.

Cons

Interface still need work in terms of user friendliness.

Hernan
Overall rating
  • Industry: Automotive
  • Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Good management tool

Reviewed on 16/11/2018

Good management plan, easy to convert to other platforms.

Good management plan, easy to convert to other platforms.

Pros

Very easy to set up, and start building up Gantt timings.

Cons

Needs a "facelift", needs to be refreshed, make it more "interactive" (drag and drop functionality).

Bob
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Great Product

Reviewed on 23/2/2017

Great alternative to Microsoft Project. Excellent value also. Easy to use and all the features...

Great alternative to Microsoft Project. Excellent value also. Easy to use and all the features you need.

Pros

Price and easy to use

Cons

No issues

Rick
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  • Review Source

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  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

Good MS Project Alrernative

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

As a small company, we are always looking for the best value and not necessarily the best known...

As a small company, we are always looking for the best value and not necessarily the best known brand. We have been using Rational Plan for about four year, and have been thoroughly satisfied. Having been a MS Project user, I found Rational Plan very familiar with most of the commands located right where I expected them to be. The project import/export was also valuable in allowing us to share schedules with our customers who were MS Prohect users. Customer service was great, all for a fraction of the cost of MS Project.

Ingo
Overall rating
  • Industry: Pharmaceuticals
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Excellent for medium size project

Reviewed on 28/2/2017

Rationalplan I found very useful to track medium sized projects, e.g. when you set up a new...

Rationalplan I found very useful to track medium sized projects, e.g. when you set up a new production plant and plan for the scheduling of validations and training of people. Easy to align with other project managers and teams e.g. to transfer products from development into production. Interchangeable with other project software you find in different companies. Easy to track different speeds of teamwork. Great software and excellent value for money!

Pros

Graphical overview, easy to learn.

Arun
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great Product!

Reviewed on 10/11/2018

Pros

Easy to use, very user friendly and excellent for project planning purposes.

Cons

Honestly, I cannot think of anything that I would change about it.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Solid Project Management Tool

Reviewed on 20/11/2018

Students who use a macbook and cannot load MS Project need to rely on a solid management tool to...

Students who use a macbook and cannot load MS Project need to rely on a solid management tool to perform their scheduling and cost management. It is a lifesaver for those students who rely on a macbook.

Pros

The software follows along the same principles of MS Project that helps my students learn the tool quicker. The compatibility to work along side MS Project likewise helps students that work with Macbooks where they cannot load MS Project to their system.

Cons

The reporting function is not as robust as MS Project.

Charles
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  • Review Source

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  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

Suitable for professional use!

Reviewed on 12/6/2013

Suitable for professional use!

Suitable for professional use!

Pros

Nice multiplatform interface
Server allows resources to report their task completion
Customer support very helpful and responsive

Cons

No automatic planning based on task's work and resource availability, but it's the only thing missing from MS project, for a fraction of its price

Some UI can be counter intuitive, but that's OK

Ermanno
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  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Review Source

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  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

Reviewed on 29/10/2015

Mallory
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  • Review Source

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  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

RationalPlan

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

We use this product to create schedules and timelines for our projects. I've found it helpful as a...

We use this product to create schedules and timelines for our projects. I've found it helpful as a central location for project info such as scope and budget. We use this to also create gaunt charts and timelines. It is very helpful to get the whole team on the same page, also if the time line shifts it shows where corresponding items will have to shift to.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Renewables & Environment
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Simple Scheduling

Reviewed on 9/11/2018

Pros

Has all the basic features needed for critical path scheduling and Gantt chart visuals.

Cons

At times I experience freezes that limit the ability to use the software. The print function is also not as clean as I would like for displaying a gantt.

Neal
Overall rating
  • Industry: Financial Services
  • Used Monthly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

good functional project management software

Reviewed on 17/2/2017

I have used RationalPlan for almost a year to design and present projects for existing and...

I have used RationalPlan for almost a year to design and present projects for existing and potential customers. Entering tasks for WBS and Gantt charts is straightforward with several options presented to schedule and link tasks together. Printing reports to a pdf format has been very useful and enabled a clean Gantt chart presentation.

Pros

value for money and easy to use; good technical support

Cons

could have more features such as recurring milestones on a quarterly basis etc.

Jim
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  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Good project manager

Reviewed on 16/2/2017

I am not sure project managers as I have seen them is what I am actually looking for . However,...

I am not sure project managers as I have seen them is what I am actually looking for . However, of all I have looked at I do like Rational Plan. It has a lot of features well laid out, nice facebook page and decent online manual.

Pros

Nice layout and features

Cons

None

Krzysztof
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  • Review Source

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  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

Great software for start-up company

Reviewed on 23/2/2017

We are using RationalPlan to manage our three big projects. It is really simple and powerful tool...

We are using RationalPlan to manage our three big projects. It is really simple and powerful tool for everyone. Lot of options inside give us a choice to precisely control all changes of time line project. Great value for the money you pay.

mike
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  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

Business User

Reviewed on 23/2/2017

Easy to use. Accesses most resources we were looking for. Would recommend to other business people...

Easy to use. Accesses most resources we were looking for. Would recommend to other business people seeking similar resources. Wish more research software companies would use similar process. Seems like it is up to date.