As announced in November 2023, the Planner app in Teams is being updated. Microsoft is using the app update to introduce Planner Premium and Copilot in Planner.
If Teams Public Preview is activated for your account, you will recognize the new Planner app in Teams with the name “Planner”. The old app is called “Tasks by Planner and To Do. The new Planner app should be available by May. Changes to the web will follow later.
Microsoft’s blog post includes a video about the new Planner app, which gives an insight into its new functions. Further information is in The new Microsoft Planner – Microsoft Adoption.
In videos and documentation, Microsoft occasionally mentions information about license requirements in FAQs. During a preview, it is customary for Microsoft to remain silent about licenses and costs. Nevertheless, with the new Planner app it is already clear which licenses an organization can expect, should Microsoft not change it before global availability.
I summarize information about the new Planner App and the license requirements visible in the currently available Planner Preview App.
Content
Basic Plan
User accounts with a Planner service plan can create a Basic Plan in the new Planner app and choose between selected Planner Basic templates.
When creating a Basic Plan, the system creates a Personal Plan. If you remember, the new Personal Plan type was introduced in December 2023 and has some restrictions. From my post from December 2023:
A Personal Plan is tied to an individual in the organization. The plan does not support any other members and therefore cannot be shared with anyone else.
In contrast to a Lightweight Plan, a Personal Plan can be subsequently linked to a Microsoft 365 group if, for example, a person leaves the organization. Once linked to a Microsoft 365 group, a plan can no longer become a Personal Plan.What else should you know about Personal Plans?
- A Personal Plan does not include any settings. Effects are Renaming the plan is not possible, users cannot delete the plan,…
- Personal Plan does not support comments in tasks
- Personal plan does not support document upload
- Personal plan cannot be shared
- A Personal Plan is deleted as soon as the account is deleted by its owner
- A Personal Plan can be transferred to an existing Microsoft 365 group, not to another person. All members of the group have access to the plan.
In Teams (not in Planner on the web), the owner can link the plan to a group or create a new group and then invite other members to the group. The personal plan becomes a group-connected plan. This has been possible via PowerShell and Microsoft Graph since December 2023 (see example in the article).
Planner Premium
In addition to creating a Basic Plan, other options include signing Microsoft expects an additional license for Planner Premium. It is currently Project Plan 1, but Project Plan 1 may be renamed Planner Premium in the future.
Microsoft briefly renamed Project Plan 1 to Planner Plan 1 in February and reversed the change in March.
If your account is licensed for Project Plan 1, you can create a Premium Plan.
- Personal Premium Plan
Similar to the Basic Plan, you can connect the plan to a Microsoft 365 group during creation. If the plan is not linked to a group, it is again a Personal plan with extended functions from Project Plan 1 and the same limitations described in the Basic plan. A Personal Premium Plan can be subsequently linked to a Microsoft 365 group. - Premium Plan
The Premium Plan is connected to an existing or new Microsoft 365 group and has familiar features. A group-connected plan cannot subsequently become a Personal Premium plan.
For both types of Premium Plans, a new project in Project on the web in the background is created and integrated into the Planner app.
- You will not find the newly created Premium Plan in Planner on the web.
- The newly created Premium plan is listed in Project on the web.
Copilot in Planner
If you were able to create a Premium Plan, Planner will show you an icon for Copilot. Clicking on it will inform you that the account requires a Project Plan 3.
If the account uses Project Plan 3, it opens Copilot in Planner.
- A Copilot for Microsoft 365 license is not required for integration in Planner.
- Copilot in Planner is not included in Copilot for Microsoft 365.
Project Plan 3 is priced identically to a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license but is available as a trial version and with a monthly commitment.
License requirements (preview)
If Microsoft does not revise the visible licensing requirements in the new Planner before global availability, this means a summary for organizations. It remains to be seen what ideas Microsoft has for Project Plan 5.
| Product | License requirement |
|---|---|
| Basic Plan | Planner Serviceplan + Teams Serviceplan |
| Planner Premium | Teams Serviceplan |
| Project Plan 1 | |
| Copilot in Planner | Teams Serviceplan |
| Project Plan 3 | |
| Copilot in Planner + Copilot in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft 365 / Office 365 license package |
| Project Plan 3 | |
| Copilot for Microsoft 365 |
German post was automatically translated by DeepL API
Update from April 13, 2024:
The Copilot integration has been postponed to an unspecified date.
