Microsoft To Do Licensing: Enterprise Guide 2026

What Is Microsoft To Do?

Microsoft To Do is a personal task management application. It is the successor to Wunderlist, acquired by Microsoft in 2015. To Do allows users to create task lists, set reminders, share lists with others, and integrates directly with Outlook (flagged emails appear as tasks in My Day view, for example).

To Do is cloud-native, available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and the web. It is free for personal Microsoft accounts and included in all commercial M365 plans.

To Do Licensing: Free Personal vs M365 Included

Personal Microsoft accounts: To Do is completely free. Any user with a hotmail.com, outlook.com, or other personal Microsoft account can use To Do at no cost.

Commercial M365 accounts: To Do is included in every commercial M365 plan:

Note: To Do and free Planner are included in all tiers. Planner Premium is a paid add-on ($10/month per user).

There is no separate "To Do licence" to purchase. If you have an M365 licence, you have To Do.

To Do vs Planner: Different Use Cases

This is the key distinction. Microsoft has two task management products:

To Do: Personal Task Management

• Scope: Individual task lists, personal productivity
• Primary use: My Day, personal projects, task capture from Outlook
• Sharing: Can share individual lists with others, but not designed for team collaboration
• Teams integration: Appears as a tab in Teams; users see their personal To Do lists
• Licence: Free (personal accounts) or included in M365 (commercial accounts)

Planner: Team Task Management

• Scope: Team/project-level task planning and tracking
• Primary use: Project plans, kanban boards, team deliverables
• Sharing: Plans are owned by Microsoft 365 Groups; all group members see tasks
• Teams integration: Planner tab in Teams channels; team sees shared plan
• Licence: Free tier included in all M365 plans; Planner Premium ($10/month) adds advanced features

Design principle: To Do is for you; Planner is for your team.

To Do Features: Personal Productivity

To Do includes these capabilities:

• My Day: A personalized daily summary of tasks due today, flagged emails from Outlook, and recurring tasks
• Smart Suggestions: AI-powered task suggestions based on email content and calendar
• Lists: Create custom lists (shopping, work, ideas, etc.)
• Sub-tasks: Break tasks into smaller steps
• Sharing: Share a list with individuals or groups for collaborative task tracking
• Reminders: Set due dates and reminder notifications
• Outlook integration: Flag emails to turn them into tasks; sync across Outlook and To Do
• Mobile apps: Full functionality on iOS and Android

To Do has no paid tiers. All features are included in the free/M365-bundled version.

Planner: Free Tier vs Planner Premium

Free Planner (Included in All M365 Plans)

The free Planner tier includes:

• Task boards (kanban-style columns: To Do, In Progress, Done)
• Task lists (linear task list view)
• Assignment and due dates
• Labels and priority levels
• Checklist sub-tasks
• Team collaboration via Microsoft 365 Groups
• Integration with Teams and Outlook
• Comments and @mentions on tasks
• Basic filtering and sorting

Cost: $0 (included in E1, E3, E5, Business Basic/Standard/Premium)

Planner Premium ($10/Month Per User)

Planner Premium adds advanced project management features:

• Gantt charts/timeline view: Visualize task dependencies and project schedules
• Custom fields: Add organization-specific data to tasks (department, cost centre, client, etc.)
• Sprints: Organize tasks into sprint cycles for agile teams
• Roadmaps: Long-term project planning and dependency mapping
• Advanced reporting: Burndown charts, capacity planning, progress analytics
• Templates: Save and reuse project templates
• Portfolio management: View multiple plans across a programme

Cost: $10/month per user (or negotiated lower in EAs)

When to Use Free Planner vs Planner Premium

Use Free Planner For:

• Standard team task boards (kanban-style)
• Task lists and basic project tracking
• Small to mid-size teams (under 50 people)
• Short-term projects (weeks to months)
• Tasks without complex dependencies
• Teams that don't need Gantt charts or timeline views

Use Planner Premium For:

• Large programmes with multiple dependent projects
• Organisations with formal project management standards (PMO)
• Long-duration projects requiring Gantt/timeline views
• Teams that need capacity planning and sprint tracking
• Organisations with custom fields and reporting requirements
• Enterprise roadmap and portfolio management

The Reality: Most Organisations Don't Need Premium

In our experience with 500+ enterprise customers, approximately 70% of organisations use free Planner successfully and never upgrade to Premium. The remaining 30% benefit from Premium features when they have:

• A dedicated PMO with formal project standards
• Cross-functional programmes with complex task dependencies
• Teams using agile (sprints, burndown) methodologies
• Executive-level reporting and roadmap visibility

The mistake we see: Microsoft sales selling Planner Premium as "required" or "standard" when organisations have no actual use case for Gantt charts or advanced reporting. Do not buy Planner Premium without clear, documented need.

Tasks in Teams: Unified Task Experience

Microsoft has unified task management in Teams through the Tasks app (also called Tasks Hub). This is a single view that aggregates To Do lists and Planner plans. No additional licence required—included in all M365 plans.

What Tasks in Teams Includes:

• Personal To Do lists appear in Tasks
• Team Planner plans appear in Tasks
• Shared list view of all assigned tasks across To Do and Planner
• Filtering by status, assignee, due date
• Inline editing of tasks
• Integration with Teams notifications

No separate licence. Tasks is a UI layer that sits on top of To Do and Planner. Any M365 user can use Tasks in Teams automatically.

Power Automate and Task Integration

Power Automate (Microsoft's workflow automation tool) can create tasks in To Do or Planner automatically. Examples:

• Create a task when an email arrives with a specific sender
• Create a Planner task when a form is submitted
• Create a task when a project deadline is reached

Power Automate Licensing for Task Creation

Power Automate comes in tiers:

• Cloud flows (free): Limited free capacity each month. Basic automations often fit within free tier
• Cloud flows (paid): $15/month per user for unlimited automations
• Included in M365: E3 and above include basic Power Automate functionality

Creating tasks via Power Automate does not require a separate "task creation licence." If you have M365 and basic Power Automate access, you can create tasks. Advanced automations may require Power Automate paid capacity, but that is not task-specific—it is for Power Automate usage generally.

Microsoft Viva Goals vs Planner Premium

For OKR (Objectives and Key Results) and goal management, Microsoft offers Viva Goals ($6/month per user), which is separate from Planner Premium ($10/month).

• Planner Premium: Project-level planning, Gantt charts, sprints, task dependencies
• Viva Goals: Organisation-wide goal alignment, OKRs, key results tracking

These serve different purposes. Planner Premium is task/project-level. Viva Goals is strategy/goal-level. Some organisations buy both; many buy neither (relying on free Planner for projects and spreadsheets for goals).

To Do and Planner: Cost Comparison

Pricing assumes enterprise EA; may vary by region and agreement terms.

Common Over-Licensing Mistakes

Mistake 1: Buying Planner Premium for All Users

Microsoft may quote Planner Premium for "standard enterprise deployments" when actually 80% of your users only need basic task boards. Solution: Audit Planner usage; identify which teams actually use Gantt charts or advanced features; buy Premium for those teams only.

Mistake 2: Thinking To Do and Planner Are the Same

They are not. To Do is personal; Planner is team. Don't buy Planner for users who only need personal task lists. Solution: Deploy To Do for individual use; Planner for team projects.

Mistake 3: Not Using Free Planner Before Upgrading

Some organisations buy Planner Premium from day one without testing free Planner. Solution: Pilot free Planner for 3–6 months; only upgrade to Premium if teams actually need Gantt/sprints.

Mistake 4: Over-Buying Premium in Mid-Market

A 500-person organisation might have 100 active Planner users. Buying Premium for all 500 is wasteful. Solution: Assign Premium only to power users (project managers, team leads); everyone else uses free Planner.

Deployment Best Practices for To Do and Planner

1. Enable To Do for all users: Since it is free in M365, deploy universally. Train on My Day, Outlook flagging, and personal lists
2. Start with free Planner: Create team Planner plans; pilot for 3–6 months with early adopter teams
3. Measure Premium need: Track which plans use Gantt view, sprints, or advanced fields. If fewer than 10% of teams use these, skip Premium
4. Selective Premium adoption: If some teams (PMO, development, product) need Premium, buy for them only. Do not force org-wide adoption
5. Education and change management: Teach To Do and free Planner; only explain Premium features to teams that will use them
6. Consider Viva Goals separately: If OKR tracking is a strategic priority, evaluate Viva Goals independently from Planner Premium

EA Negotiation: To Do and Planner Costs

During Microsoft EA renewal:

• To Do: No negotiation point. It is included. No cost to add
• Planner (free): No negotiation point. Included in all M365 plans
• Planner Premium: Negotiable. List current adoption (how many users, which teams). Discount Premium if you are buying for a limited population (e.g., 50 premium seats out of 1,000 users). Typical discounts: 10–20% off list price in competitive negotiations
• Viva Goals: Negotiable separately. Low adoption product; rarely a major budget line, but worth negotiating if you are using it

Focus EA leverage on M365 tier pricing (E1, E3, E5 per-user costs). Planner Premium and Viva Goals are smaller line items and less negotiable than the core M365 bundle.

Summary: To Do and Planner Licensing

Microsoft To Do is free (personal accounts) and included in all M365 plans (commercial accounts). Planner (free tier) is also included in all M365 plans. Both are included at no additional cost, meaning there is no licensing decision for To Do or basic Planner—they come with your M365 subscription.

Planner Premium ($10/month) is a paid add-on for teams that need Gantt charts, sprints, custom fields, or advanced reporting. However, most organisations (70%) never need Premium. The mistake is buying it org-wide without clear use case.

Tasks in Teams is a unified view of To Do and Planner tasks and is included in all M365 plans at no extra cost.

For EA renewal, do not negotiate To Do or free Planner cost—they are bundled. If you use Planner Premium, negotiate discounts based on actual user population and competitive alternatives. Viva Goals is separate and negotiable if you are a user.