Clarizen Alternatives and Planview AdaptiveWork Competitors for PMO Buyers
Clarizen is now Planview AdaptiveWork. The product still runs projects, resources, timesheets and portfolio reporting in one configurable system, and plenty of PMOs are well served by it. Teams start pricing alternatives when the renewal arrives under a new owner, when the configuration has grown past what one administrator can maintain, or when the steering group needs a funding decision more than another project workspace. This page compares the real options for each case and says plainly when AdaptiveWork is still the better buy.
Priced per workspace with published plans, from $24.50 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly. The demo portfolio opens on signup, already scored, ranked and planned against capacity.
The best Clarizen alternative depends on which part of AdaptiveWork you are replacing. If you need enterprise portfolio depth with strategy and financials, compare Planview Portfolios (same vendor), Broadcom Clarity, Planisware and ServiceNow SPM. If most of your users are doers who need a friendlier task and resource tool, Wrike, Smartsheet and Celoxis are the usual comparisons. And if the steering group mainly needs an agreed ranking, a funding line and a staffing check, a focused portfolio workspace settles that decision without another enterprise implementation.
Is Clarizen the same as Planview AdaptiveWork?
Yes. Planview announced the acquisition of Clarizen on January 12, 2021 and completed it on February 23, 2021, in the same transaction as Changepoint. Planview then renamed the product Planview AdaptiveWork so it sat alongside Planview Portfolios, ProjectPlace and AgilePlace. Contracts, admin guides and job postings written before the rename still say Clarizen or Clarizen One, so treat all three names as one product when you compare vendors.
That last point shapes the shortlist. Planview also owns Changepoint, Daptiv, Sciforma and Innotas. If a comparison site lists any of those next to Clarizen as competitors, it is listing products from the same vendor, and a switch between them is a move inside one account, not a change of supplier.
Five reasons teams start pricing Clarizen competitors
AdaptiveWork is rarely replaced for a missing feature. It handles projects, resource requests, timesheets, budgets and dashboards, and its configuration engine can model almost any process. The reasons buyers shop around are about cost, upkeep and whether the portfolio office gets the decision it needs.
| The trigger | What it sounds like internally | What you are actually shopping for |
|---|---|---|
| The renewal is up | The quote grew, and finance wants to know what each seat is used for | A defensible price per active planner, with a clear view of who only reads |
| The configuration outgrew its owner | Only one admin understands the custom fields, workflows and rules, and that person is leaving | A tool whose portfolio logic can be read and changed by the PMO without a specialist |
| The roadmap moved to another Planview product | The account team keeps steering the conversation toward Planview Portfolios | A clear answer on whether you need a bigger platform or a lighter one |
| The teams work elsewhere | Delivery runs in Jira, Azure DevOps or Smartsheet, and AdaptiveWork became a second place to update | A portfolio layer that sits above the team tools instead of competing with them |
| Nobody can say what got cut | Every project is active, and the steering meeting cannot agree what to stop | A scoring model and a funding line, which is a decision tool, not a project tool |
Planview AdaptiveWork competitors compared by what they replace
We sell one of the products in this table, so treat the last row as our own view and test it in a trial. Ownership is listed for every row because this category has consolidated, and the owner decides whose roadmap and whose renewal terms you are buying into.
| Tool | Owner | What it is | How it is priced | Where it beats AdaptiveWork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planview Portfolios | Planview, the same vendor | Planview's enterprise strategic portfolio platform | Quoted, role based seats | Strategy, funding scenarios and capacity at enterprise depth, inside the account you already have |
| Broadcom Clarity | Broadcom | Long established enterprise PPM with deep financial management | Quoted | IT portfolios where cost accounting and chargeback run the decision |
| Planisware | Listed on Euronext Paris since April 2024 | Enterprise PPM with an R&D and product development heritage, plus the lighter Orchestra product | Quoted | Stage gated product portfolios where pipeline economics drive funding |
| ServiceNow SPM | ServiceNow | Strategic portfolio management on the Now Platform, formerly ITBM | Quoted, usually inside a wider ServiceNow agreement | IT organizations already running service management on ServiceNow |
| Celoxis | Independent | All in one project, resource and portfolio management for mid-market PMOs | Published per user prices, prepaid annually | A known per seat cost and a shorter setup for a mid-sized PMO |
| Wrike | Symphony Technology Group (STG), since 2023 | Work management with project, request and resource views | Published per user tiers, enterprise quoted | Cross functional teams where most users are doers, not planners |
| Smartsheet | Private since its 2025 take-private by Blackstone and Vista | Spreadsheet style work management with portfolio and resource add-ons | Published per user tiers, enterprise quoted | Teams that already think in sheets and want a fast, familiar start |
| Portfolio Hub | Independent | A focused portfolio workspace: scoring, ranking, funding line, capacity plan, gate packs | Per workspace, from $24.50 a month billed yearly | Settles the funding decision across every team tool, with no configuration project |
If the shortlist is about the whole category rather than one vendor, our comparison of PPM software and project portfolio tools sorts the market by shape before it gets to names.
How much does Planview AdaptiveWork cost?
Planview does not publish AdaptiveWork prices. Review site SelectHub lists it as quote based with no free trial, and puts typical implementation fees at $10,000 to $50,000 on top of the subscription. Procurement data from Vendr describes AdaptiveWork deals as usually mid five figures a year for 50 to 200 users. Treat both as reported figures for a first budget, not as a quote. Our Planview pricing guide covers the wider Planview family and how its quotes are built.
| Pricing model | Who uses it | What makes the bill grow | What to ask in the quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quoted, per user, with editions | Planview AdaptiveWork, Planview Portfolios | More named users, a higher edition, and services days | Which roles need a paid seat to log time, approve or only view |
| Quoted enterprise subscription | Broadcom Clarity, Planisware, ServiceNow SPM | Named users, modules and, for ServiceNow, the wider platform agreement | The implementation estimate as a separate line, and the renewal cap |
| Published per user, tiered | Celoxis, Wrike, Smartsheet | More paid seats, and moving up a tier for one feature | Whether resource and portfolio features sit in the tier you would buy |
| Per workspace, published | Portfolio Hub | Moving up a plan for more initiatives, roles or gate packs | Nothing, the plans and limits are on the pricing page |
A quick fairness test for the renewal: divide the annual AdaptiveWork cost by the number of people who changed something in it during the last ninety days. If most seats belong to people who only submit a timesheet or open a dashboard, the question becomes what the portfolio layer is worth on its own, and that number is much easier to compare across vendors.
When staying on AdaptiveWork is the right answer
AdaptiveWork is a sensible product for a specific kind of organization. If these describe you, a switch probably costs more than it returns.
The whole delivery cycle lives in it
If projects, resource requests, timesheets and budgets all flow through AdaptiveWork, the data is complete, and that is the hardest thing to rebuild in any new tool.
Professional services billing depends on it
When time entry feeds client billing or revenue recognition, a migration touches finance, not just the PMO. That raises the bar for any switch.
Your configuration is documented
A well documented setup with an owner who is staying is an asset. The configuration risk only bites when nobody can explain why a rule exists.
The renewal is weeks away
Migrating mid-cycle costs a quarter of reporting quality. Renegotiate the seat mix first and plan the move for a natural boundary such as fiscal year end.
Pick by the sentence you would use to explain the problem
Shortlists drift when everyone agrees AdaptiveWork is not working without agreeing why. Find the sentence closest to yours and start the evaluation there, not with a feature grid.
| If you would say this | Start with | Because |
|---|---|---|
| We need enterprise strategy and funding scenarios, and we like Planview | Planview Portfolios | A move inside one account, with more portfolio depth than AdaptiveWork |
| IT finance and chargeback drive our portfolio | Broadcom Clarity | Its financial management is the deepest in the category |
| Our portfolio is product development with stage gates | Planisware | Pipeline economics and gate reviews are its home ground |
| IT already runs on ServiceNow | ServiceNow SPM | Demand, projects and services share one platform and one contract |
| We want a known per seat cost and a quick setup | Celoxis | Published prices and an all in one scope sized for mid-market PMOs |
| Our teams want a friendlier daily task tool | Wrike or Smartsheet | They are built around the people doing the work, with portfolio views added |
| We know we are over capacity and cannot agree what to cut | A portfolio workspace with a scoring model and a funding line | The missing artifact is an agreed ranking, not a better project plan |
What to take out of AdaptiveWork before you switch
Whatever you choose, the export is where value gets lost. Projects and tasks move easily. The decisions around them often do not, because they live in custom fields, rules and discussion threads that nobody documented.
| What to export | Why it matters | Where it should land |
|---|---|---|
| Projects with status, owner, budget and phase | They are the portfolio register, whatever the tool calls them | The new portfolio layer, one row per initiative |
| Custom priority and scoring fields | They hold the prioritization history the steering group relied on | A weighted scoring model with the criteria written down |
| Resource requests and assignments by role | They are the only record of real demand against your people | A capacity plan by role and month as a baseline |
| Timesheet history | It proves what work actually cost, which estimates never do | An archive finance can query, and actuals for the next business cases |
| Workflow rules and approval steps | They encode your governance, often without anyone having written it down | A short gate policy the new tool can follow, reviewed before go live |
| Closed and cancelled projects | They show what the organization already decided not to do | An archive the next intake review can search |
Six things to prove in the trial, on your own data
Every vendor in this table will run a polished demo. Ask for a trial or a proof of concept instead, load twenty real projects and your real role list, and check these six in front of the people who will use the result.
| Check | What to do | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Year two cost | Price the headcount you expect in twelve months, split into planners and contributors | A total you could defend to finance, with every seat type named |
| The PMO owns the logic | Change a scoring weight or a gate rule during the session | The change takes effect in front of you, without a consultant |
| The funding line is real | Set the budget below total demand | The portfolio splits into funded and not funded, with a cumulative cost you can show |
| Capacity is by role and month | Load your actual role list, not generic teams | The shortfall appears as a number per role per month |
| Your AdaptiveWork export loads | Load the project list you exported from AdaptiveWork | Rows land with owner, budget and phase intact, with no rework in a spreadsheet |
| Your data comes out again | Export the register, the scores and the capacity plan | Excel or CSV on demand, with no reporting build to arrange it |
The portfolios this workspace fits, and the ones it does not
A PMO paying for seats nobody plans in
Keep delivery in the tools your teams already use and hold the portfolio decision in one workspace priced per workspace, not per contributor.
A steering group that cannot cut
Score every project on the same weighted criteria, draw the funding line at the real budget, and bring the list of what falls below it to the meeting.
Capacity arguments by role
A twelve month plan by role shows where the shortfall lands before the next quarter is committed, instead of after the timesheets come in.
Not a fit: timesheets and client billing
If you need time entry that feeds invoicing, that is AdaptiveWork's home ground, and we will say so rather than sell around it.
Questions people ask when comparing Clarizen alternatives
What are the best Clarizen alternatives?
It depends on which part of AdaptiveWork you are replacing. For enterprise portfolio depth, compare Planview Portfolios, Broadcom Clarity, Planisware and ServiceNow SPM. For a friendlier task and resource tool, Wrike, Smartsheet and Celoxis. For scoring, ranking and funding decisions without a full implementation, a focused portfolio workspace such as Portfolio Hub covers the decision layer.
Is Clarizen the same as Planview AdaptiveWork?
Yes. Planview announced the acquisition of Clarizen on January 12, 2021 and completed it on February 23, 2021, together with Changepoint. The product was then renamed Planview AdaptiveWork. Older contracts and admin guides still use the Clarizen or Clarizen One name, so treat them as one product when you compare vendors.
How much does Planview AdaptiveWork cost?
Planview does not publish AdaptiveWork prices, and every deal is quoted. SelectHub lists it as quote based with implementation fees of $10,000 to $50,000, and Vendr procurement data describes deals as usually mid five figures a year for 50 to 200 users. Use those as reported figures for a first budget, then get a quote for your seat mix.
Who are Planview AdaptiveWork's main competitors?
In enterprise shortlists AdaptiveWork most often meets Broadcom Clarity, Planisware and ServiceNow SPM, and Planview Portfolios from inside its own family. In mid-market deals it meets Celoxis, Wrike and Smartsheet. Check ownership as you shortlist, because Changepoint, Daptiv, Sciforma and Innotas also belong to Planview.
Is Clarizen still supported?
The product is supported and sold as Planview AdaptiveWork. The Clarizen name was retired after the acquisition, not the software. What changed for customers is the vendor relationship: renewals, roadmap and support now run through Planview, which also sells Planview Portfolios as its enterprise portfolio platform.
Do we need a full PPM platform to prioritize our portfolio?
Not always. A full platform earns its cost when projects, resources, timesheets and billing must live in one system. If the actual problem is agreeing which projects to fund and whether they can be staffed, a scoring model, a funding line and a capacity plan by role settle that, and delivery can stay in the tools your teams already use.
Pick the plan that matches the size of the portfolio
Starter
$24.50/mo
Billed $294 a year, or $49 monthly
- 20 initiatives
- 8 delivery roles
- 5 stage gate packs a month
- Excel and CSV export
Team
$74.50/mo
Billed $894 a year, or $149 monthly
- 100 initiatives
- 40 delivery roles
- 40 stage gate packs a month
- Excel and CSV export
Portfolio Office
$199.50/mo
Billed $2,394 a year, or $399 monthly
- Unlimited initiatives
- Unlimited delivery roles
- Unlimited stage gate packs
- Excel and CSV export
Settle the portfolio decision before the renewal does it for you
Create your account, load the projects you track in AdaptiveWork today, and bring a ranking, a funding line and a capacity gap to the next steering meeting.