What a Gantt chart in PowerPoint costs: Lucen Timeline vs thinkcell
thinkcell's Gantt charts come in Suite at $30.90 per user per month. Lucen Timeline starts free, and Expert, with every project-tool integration, is $21. Here's what each plan includes.
Free plan available · PowerPoint add-in for Windows · Formerly Office Timeline
Where does your schedule live?
thinkcell is used by all of the world's top 10 consulting firms. It covers more than 40 chart types, including waterfalls and Mekkos, runs inside PowerPoint on Windows and Mac, and can update a chart automatically when its linked Excel range changes. If your deck is mostly charts and your schedule already lives in Excel, thinkcell is the stronger suite. If your plan lives in Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Jira, Lucen Timeline brings it straight onto the slide and keeps it current.
Lucen Timeline vs thinkcell
How the two compare for project managers who present schedules in PowerPoint.
(Expert plan)
Based on publicly available information on lucensoftware.com, help.lucensoftware.com and thinkcell.com, checked October 19, 2026.
Pricing, side by side
Refresh from every source
Prices per user per month. Lucen Timeline is billed annually; thinkcell is licensed per user for a one-year period. Prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked October 19, 2026. thinkcell Suite also includes 40+ chart types beyond Gantt.
Built for the plan you already have
Your plan comes in from where it lives
Import a Microsoft Project file, a Smartsheet sheet, a Jira project, a Wrike project or an Excel sheet, and Lucen Timeline turns it into a timeline made of native PowerPoint shapes. Columns in your plan can become swimlanes. On Expert, Project, Smartsheet, Jira and Excel imports stay linked to their source, so next week's update starts from the same file.
On Expert, refresh with a change list
When the plan moves, click Refresh Data. Lucen Timeline compares your slide with the source and lists every changed, deleted and new item, with the differences highlighted. You pick what lands. Refresh goes one way, so your .mpp, sheet or Jira project is never touched.
Schedule logic that lives on the slide
Link tasks with four dependency types and their dates shift when a predecessor moves. Turn on the critical path and Lucen Timeline calculates it for you. On Expert, planned vs. actual shows each task's baseline under its current dates.
Colleagues can open and edit it
Lucen Timeline draws native PowerPoint shapes, so anyone can open, present and edit the slide in PowerPoint. To keep refresh working, make structural changes with the add-in.
Familiar frustrations, fixed
Ihr Plan liegt in einem Tool, doch das Management braucht etwas anderes.
Pläne bleiben in Microsoft Excel, doch Updates müssen präsentationsreif sein. Lucen Plan strukturiert die Arbeit, und Lucen Timeline macht daraus mit einem Klick eine klare Sicht für Stakeholder.
Sie verfolgen Abhängigkeiten, aber Prioritäten verschieben sich ständig.
Kleine Änderungen wirken sich schnell auf Pläne, Zeitpläne und Stakeholder aus. Lucen Plan hält Abhängigkeiten strukturiert an der Quelle, während Lucen Timeline die Auswirkungen sofort widerspiegelt, damit Sie die Kontrolle behalten, wenn sich Prioritäten ändern.
Sie verbringen mehr Zeit mit Berichten als mit der Ausführung.
Statusberichte sollten kein manuelles Neuerstellen von Folien erfordern. Lucen Timeline hält Berichte mit standardisierten Vorlagen und Ein-Klick-Aktualisierung aktuell.
Already using thinkcell?
Here's how to think about switching.
What carries over
- Your decks keep working. Existing thinkcell charts stay on your slides as regular PowerPoint shapes.
- Your Excel schedule imports as it is. Adding a Row ID column makes later refreshes more precise.
- Your Project, Smartsheet or Jira plan imports directly, so the Excel step goes away.
What changes
- Gantt charts built in thinkcell don't convert. You re-create each one by importing the plan once.
- Mac users work in Timeline Online and export to PowerPoint.
- Importing from Project, Smartsheet, Jira or Wrike needs the Expert plan.
Our recommendation: build your next status deck in the 14-day Expert trial, from the same plan file you use today.
Bring your plan to the slide
Start free, or try every integration on Expert for 14 days. No credit card required.
Free plan available · Formerly Office Timeline
Common questions
thinkcell is a charting suite with more than 40 chart types, and Gantt charts are one of them. Lucen Timeline is built only for timelines and Gantt charts. It imports the schedule from Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Wrike or Excel and, on Expert, refreshes it when the plan changes (Wrike is import only).
thinkcell's documentation doesn't list a Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Jira connector. Its project management page advises exporting your plan to Excel and linking the Excel range.
It depends on where your data lives. thinkcell can update a chart automatically when its linked Excel range changes. Lucen Timeline refreshes in one click on Expert, from Excel, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet and Jira, and shows you each change before it's applied.
A Mac add-in, more than 40 chart types such as waterfalls and Mekkos, automatic refresh from Excel, Harvey ball and checkbox columns, an AI assistant for slides and charts, and a longer free trial.
The PowerPoint add-in runs on Windows. On a Mac, you can build timelines in Timeline Online in your browser and export them to PowerPoint.
Yes. Lucen Timeline creates native PowerPoint shapes, so anyone can open, present, and edit the slide in PowerPoint without the add-in. To keep your timeline data and future updates working correctly, use the Lucen Timeline add-in for structural changes.
Lucen Timeline has a Free plan and paid plans at $9, $17 and $21 per user per month, billed annually. thinkcell's Gantt charts are in Suite at $30.90 per user per month for 1 to 4 users, billed annually, with lower prices at higher seat counts.
Yes. You can use the Free plan with no time limit, or try Expert free for 14 days with no credit card. Paid plans also come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Lucen Timeline has a SOC 2 Type 2 report, available on request. IT teams can deploy it with Intune, SCCM or Group Policy, and license users automatically from Microsoft Entra ID.
Yes. Office Timeline became Lucen Timeline in May 2026. Same product, same team.