Merlin Project Express

Run projects that actually ship.

For occasional projects. Plan what needs planning. On the Mac App Store or via Setapp.

Project planning that feels familiar from day one

A Mac app for the home project, the tour plan or the thesis. No multi-team, multi-quarter tracking nobody maintains.

Gantt Chart

Break your project down into tasks, milestones and dependencies on a clear timeline. Drag and drop elements into the right structure. Merlin Project Express recalculates start and end dates automatically.

Resources & costs

Drag people straight from your Mac Contacts into a project. Merlin Project Express calculates costs from hourly rates and budgets automatically: per task, per resource or for the whole project.

Attachments

Attach every piece of information directly to a task: files, checklists, events, information items, issues and risks. Drag and drop them in, with version history for changing documents.

What our customers say

Real voices from the App Store, Capterra and direct customer references.

Capterra ★★★★★

Merlin Project: Underrated Project Management Tool

It was perfect since I no longer struggle with the management of ongoing projects as it makes it easy and much more efficient. It also ensures task management works as expected. Pros: makes project management, project controlling as well as task management efficient. Cons: multi project management requires a lot of time to set up

— Diaferia A.
Appstore ★★★★★

best project mgmt tool out there

great for viewing MS project files in understandabvle gant view

— Cmdr. Ed
Appstore ★★★★

Excellent application for planning and project steering

A very performant application and an excellent alternative for steering and planning a project on Mac and iPad. Strengths: - Good scheduling engine, links and Gantt display - G...

— Jérômeprs
Appstore ★★★★★

PM tool no. 1

After almost 20 years of regular use, Merlin is still my number 1 project management tool. My favourite features: 1. Working capacity adjustments and working resource levelling. When I have to plan projects in MS Project, for example, I export them to Merlin for editing and plan correction, and then move them back to MS Project. 2. The WBS can b...

— Toldus
Capterra ★★★★★

They can finally sync between Mac and iPhone

I started using Merlin 3 some months ago and was eagerly waiting for the sync between projects on Mac and iPhone. Since two weeks the beta of Merlin Project 4 is available and t...

— Stephen S.
Appstore ★★★★★

Great software, excellent support

I handle the complete planning of our service jobs directly on-site at the customer. Thanks to the automatic publishing of the HTML pages, everyone involved is always up to date...

— NG Mönchberg
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Leave a review on the Mac App Store

Share your experience with Merlin Project Express on the Mac App Store.

★★★★★

Pricing overview

Download the trial and try Merlin Project Express free for 14 days, then purchase once on the Mac App Store.

Merlin Project for iPad

Merlin Project for iPad

You travel a lot and plan on the iPad?

For the mobile project manager on iPad, Apple Vision Pro or iPhone.

US$9.99 / month
Merlin Project Express

Merlin Project Express

You plan personal or small projects?

The small version for the private project manager on the Mac.

US$6.99 / month
month year
2 months free

Feature comparison

Frequently asked questions

The most common questions about switching, data privacy, and purchasing, answered briefly.

Can I import existing Microsoft Project files?

Yes. Merlin Project imports and exports Microsoft Project via MS Project XML. Additionally, MPX and formats like MindManager, FreeMind, OmniPlan, OPML, CSV, iCalendar are supported.

See all supported import and export formats →

Do I need a server or cloud platform?

No. Merlin Project runs entirely locally on your Mac or iPad. For team collaboration the app syncs via iCloud Drive, Dropbox or, on the Mac, practically any common cloud service. You don't need your own server.

At its heart is MagicSync, our patented sync technology. It reconciles changes from multiple users and devices without losing data or producing annoying conflict files, even when several people edit simultaneously.

Learn more about our patented sync →

Does Merlin Project work without an internet connection?

Yes, completely. All features are available offline. As soon as you're back online, Merlin Project syncs your changes automatically, guaranteed without conflict files. Ideal for construction sites, on-site meetings or travel.

Where is my project data stored?

Exclusively on your own devices and, if you enable it, in your personal cloud storage. Merlin Project is not a cloud application and not a SaaS. There is no ProjectWizards server that processes your project data. You alone decide where your data lives.

This makes the app fully GDPR-compliant, a key difference compared to purely cloud-based PM tools. You don't need a data processing agreement (DPA).

Privacy details → · Privacy policy

What happens after the 14-day trial?

You can try Merlin Project Express for 14 days without any restrictions. Once the trial ends, you keep read access to all project files you created; edits, export and printing are not available in this mode.

To keep working, choose a monthly or annual subscription as an in-app purchase from the Mac App Store. Setapp subscribers can use Merlin Project Express directly through their Setapp plan.

View on the Mac App Store →

What about my old lifetime license?

Your lifetime license remains valid. You can continue to use Merlin Project with the feature set your license covered at purchase. New features and current versions are part of the subscription model.

Run projects that actually ship.

One app for your project plan, native on every Apple device.