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Construction · head to head

Microsoft Project vs Trunk Tools

Microsoft Project logo

Microsoft Project

Construction

Keep projects organized and on track

From
$10/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trunk Tools logo

Trunk Tools

Construction

Answers questions from a project document set with citations, so field staff stop hunting drawings

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Project performance degrades with large projects over 400 tasks, becoming slow and unstable; Trunk Tools nothing about pricing is published, and because it is quoted by project rather than by seat, the cost of standardising it across a portfolio of jobs is hard to model before a sales process
  • They diverge on capability: Microsoft Project covers Gantt charts, Trunk Tools covers Question answering with citations.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Project and Trunk Tools actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Project and Trunk Tools differ
AttributeMicrosoft ProjectTrunk Tools
Starting price$10/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOSWeb, iOS, Android
Founded1975Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Microsoft Project

  • Gantt charts
  • Resource management
  • Budget tracking
  • Timeline views
  • Task dependencies
  • Critical path
  • Earned value analysis
  • Portfolio management

Only in Trunk Tools

  • Question answering with citations
  • Text message interface
  • Submittal review
  • RFI drafting
  • Schedule agent
  • Drawing and specification ingestion
  • Change awareness

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Microsoft Project

  • Project schedulingnot Trunk Tools
  • Resource allocationnot Trunk Tools
  • Portfolio managementnot Trunk Tools
  • Budget trackingnot Trunk Tools
  • Enterprise project managementnot Trunk Tools

Trunk Tools

  • A superintendent on a data centre project who needs to know the required fire rating of a specific partition type without leaving the decknot Microsoft Project
  • A project engineer reviewing 300 submittals who wants conflicts against the specification flagged before the architect sees themnot Microsoft Project
  • A contractor whose RFIs are being rejected as already answered in the specification and wants the document checked firstnot Microsoft Project
  • A team that has just received a revised drawing set and needs to know which in-progress work is now affectednot Microsoft Project

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Microsoft Project

  • Performance degrades with large projects over 400 tasks, becoming slow and unstable
  • Limited Agile methodology support, primarily designed for waterfall project management
  • Proprietary .mpp file format creates compatibility issues on non-Windows systems
  • No offline mode, limiting users without reliable internet connectivity

Trunk Tools

  • Nothing about pricing is published, and because it is quoted by project rather than by seat, the cost of standardising it across a portfolio of jobs is hard to model before a sales process
  • Answer quality is bounded entirely by the discipline of the underlying document control, and on a project with stale drawing revisions it will cite superseded sheets with the same confidence as current ones
  • It is an overlay on Procore or Autodesk rather than a system of record, so a contractor is now paying two vendors for the same document set and depends on the integration continuing to be maintained
  • The company is young and the product category is new, so there is little independent long-run evidence on accuracy, and a contractor putting field decisions on it should build its own verification sampling rather than trust vendor claims
  • Answers with citations do not carry contractual weight; an RFI response or a specification still governs, so the tool reduces search time without reducing the contractual review burden

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Project

$10/month
  • Plan 1$10/month
    • Task and project management
    • Grid views
    • Timeline features
  • Plan 3$30/month
    • Desktop client
    • Resource management
    • Advanced scheduling
  • Plan 5$55/month
    • Portfolio management
    • Demand management
    • Enterprise capabilities

Trunk Tools

On request
  • Trunk Tools$undefined/year
    • Quoted by project, user count and modules taken
    • Pilot projects commonly priced separately from an enterprise agreement
    • Document ingestion and integration setup scoped per customer

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Project if

  • You need gantt charts.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want resource management.
Microsoft Project review

Choose Trunk Tools if

  • You need question answering with citations.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want text message interface.
Trunk Tools review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Project or Trunk Tools better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Project starts at $10/month and Trunk Tools at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Project or Trunk Tools?
Microsoft Project starts at $10/month and Trunk Tools at On request.
Does Microsoft Project or Trunk Tools run on more platforms?
Microsoft Project runs on Web, Windows, macOS. Trunk Tools runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Microsoft Project best used for?
Microsoft Project is most often used for project scheduling, resource allocation, portfolio management, budget tracking. Of those, project scheduling and resource allocation are not what Trunk Tools is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Project do that Trunk Tools cannot?
Microsoft Project covers Gantt charts, Resource management, Budget tracking, Timeline views. Trunk Tools covers Question answering with citations, Text message interface, Submittal review, RFI drafting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Project: What are the different Microsoft Project plans and pricing?

Microsoft Project offers Plan 1 at $10/user/month for basic project management, Plan 3 at $30/user/month with desktop client and resource management, and Plan 5 at $55/user/month for enterprise portfolio management. Desktop licenses (2024) start at $679.99 for Standard and $1,129.99 for Professional.

Source
Trunk Tools: Does it replace Procore?

No. It reads from Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud and adds retrieval and review on top. You still pay for the document platform.

Microsoft Project: Does Microsoft Project support Agile methodology?

Microsoft Project was primarily designed for traditional waterfall project management. While it has some Agile features, it is not optimized for Agile workflows compared to dedicated Agile tools like Jira or Monday.com.

Source
Trunk Tools: What does it cost?

Trunk Tools does not publish pricing. Expect a quote scoped by project, users and which modules you take.

Microsoft Project: Can multiple teams collaborate in real-time on Microsoft Project?

Yes, Microsoft Project for the Web provides real-time collaboration through cloud-based access. However, collaboration is noted as harder compared to modern cloud-native tools due to its file-based architecture.

Source
Trunk Tools: Can it be wrong?

Yes. It cites its source, which lets you check, but if the document set contains superseded drawings it will answer from them. Document control discipline is a prerequisite, not an optional extra.

Trunk Tools: Can field staff use it without the app?

Yes. TrunkText answers questions by text message, which is the main reason foremen adopt it.

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