Head to head
Current MSP vs Autotask Projects
A sourced, side-by-side look at Current MSP and Autotask Projects for MSP project management: where Autotask Projects is stronger, and where Current fits.
Written by the Current MSP team · Reviewed by Chad McDonald, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), ITPartners+
Last updated October 5, 2026
YesPartialNo?Not documented
| Capability | Current MSP | Autotask Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Gantt / timeline | Yes, native Timeline view with drag to reschedule and back-scheduling, plus an interactive dependency map and a calendar view. | Yes, native Native project schedule Gantt with task bars, dependency arrows and editable dates. No Gantt changes in 2026.1 to 2026.5 release notes. |
| Critical path | Yes, built in Critical path recalculates on every date, dependency or availability change and shows in red on the dependency map. Accounts for PTO. | Not native, add-on No native critical path documented; add-ons such as TopLeft and Moovila market it. Based on absence in docs and 2026 release notes. |
| Task dependency types (FS, SS, FF, SF) | All four types, lag Finish-start, start-start, finish-finish and start-finish, with lag or lead in working days, cross-project links, and cycles refused. | Finish-to-start only API: successor starts at predecessor end plus lag days; no relationship type field, so no SS/FF/SF. |
| Auto-reschedule along dependencies | Yes, plus back-scheduling Moving a task offers to shift everything downstream. Can schedule backward from a fixed deadline and flags a plan that would start in the past. | Basic date shift only Finish-to-start date shifting with lag; no resource leveling or constraint-based scheduler documented. |
| Capacity planning | Workload board Schedule board shows hours committed vs available per person, drag to dispatch, rebalance suggestions. Capacity fixed at 40h/week today. | Resource Planner, ticket-led Resource Planner (2026.2) gives a live calendar of technician availability, but it schedules tickets and service calls, not project tasks. |
| Schedules around PTO and holidays | Yes Skips weekends, company holidays, PTO and blocked days on the Timeline, critical path and what-if. Microsoft 365 busy time shows on Schedule. | Shows PTO, no auto-schedule Since 2026.4 (Aug) Resource Planner shows time off and holidays, read only; task dates are not auto-scheduled around them. |
| Milestones | Yes Any task can be flagged a milestone; it stays in the dependency and critical-path engine and shows on the timeline, map and partner portal. | Yes Native phases and milestones, including fixed-price billing milestones. |
| Kanban board | Yes, native Board view with a column per status, drag-and-drop cards, hide columns and narrow to one person. | No native project Kanban Ticket board views exist, but project task Kanban still comes from add-ons such as TopLeft; none in 2026 releases. |
| Portfolio view | Yes, with health score Every project with health score, budget burn, due date and AI top risks; filter, sort, open or completed. Called Projects in the menu. | Report-driven Projects dashboard widgets and cross-project reports; no dedicated live portfolio board. |
| Checklist items with owners and due dates | Yes, with reminders Each checklist item can have an owner and due date, never later than its task. Reminders by bell and email the day before, on the day and once late. | Checklists, no owners Checklists on tickets, tasks and opportunities with a library; items have name and Important flag, no owner, due date or reminder. |
| Personal "my day" page | My Day One page per person: tasks and tickets assigned to you across projects in suggested order, dated checklist items, To Do and meetings. | My Workspace My Workspace lists project tasks and tickets assigned to you in one table, with to-dos and service calls on other tabs. |
| Time tracking | Yes, PSA-checked Timer, task drawer or weekly timesheet. Entries are checked against your PSA's rules before saving, then sync to Autotask, ConnectWise, HaloPSA or Syncro. | Yes, core Timesheets, time entry against tasks and tickets, approval workflows that feed billing. |
| Customer portal that hides financials | Yes, database-enforced Customers see only projects they belong to. Time, rates and financials are not in the data the portal can read. Portal viewers are free. | Exposes financials Client portal shows invoices, and since late 2025 a Pay Now button; per-user financial hiding not documented. |
| Templates / playbooks | 34 built-in playbooks 34 ready-to-run playbooks (incl. M&A integration and AI projects), save any project as a template, or let AI draft a plan from a pasted SOW. | Yes Project templates capturing tasks, dependencies, durations, roles and budgets; checklist library for tasks. |
| Automation / workflow rules | Alerts, not rules Health monitors, assignment and unblocked alerts, Teams channel posts and channel auto-create. No user-built trigger-action rule builder for projects. | Yes Workflow Rules for notifications, time-based and change actions; 2026.3 lets admins manage triage workflow rules in place. |
| Reports emailed on a schedule | Yes, PDF and CSV One Reports page on a shared date range with comparison. PDF/CSV export; weekly or monthly emails with a PDF built with each recipient's access. | Yes, LiveReports LiveReports can be emailed once or daily, weekly, monthly or yearly as Excel, RTF or CSV attachments. |
| Dashboards on an office TV | Yes, TV link Describe a tile in words and AI builds it. Present mode rotates boards; an admin can make a no-login TV link for an office screen. | Presentation Mode Dashboard Presentation Mode runs tabs as a slideshow on an office TV via a dedicated dashboard user. |
| AI insights | Yes, across projects AI top risks on the portfolio, SOW-to-project drafts, project insights and daily briefs. Current Score itemizes each health deduction. | Ticket-centric Cooper Copilot and AI Ticket Triage (2026.2, 2026.3) are service desk focused; no project delivery AI documented. |
| AI writing help | Dictate & Enhance Dictate or rewrite in time entry summaries, notes and emails, with Undo. Staff only; on by default, a tenant admin can turn it off. | Rewrite, Ultimate tier Cooper Smart Writing Assistant rewrites ticket notes and time entries for customers; Ultimate contract only; no dictation. |
| PSA billing sync | Syncs to PSA or native Your PSA (Autotask, ConnectWise, HaloPSA or Syncro, one per workspace) stays the billing record while Current schedules, or run projects natively. | Yes, is the PSA Autotask is the PSA; project time, milestones and expenses flow natively to contracts and invoices. |
| Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, Teams, calendar) | Yes, via Graph SharePoint project documents, a Teams channel per project, calendar busy time on Schedule, and To Do sync. One admin approval for the org. | Teams native, rest connectors Native Teams integration and Microsoft 365 user and contact sync; deeper SharePoint and Calendar via connectors. |
| Modern, recently built interface | Built in 2026 Built from scratch in 2026 on React 19 and Supabase (Postgres with row-level security). | Dated Long-running platform with features layered on; 2026 releases focus on triage, billing and security, no UI rebuild. |
| Fast setup | About 15 minutes Self-serve setup wizard: PSA choice, first sync, team and trial. Current setup checks then flag what is left per area. 14-day trial. | High effort Steep learning curve and complex setup; third-party estimates cite large year-one implementation costs. |
| Public price | $50/user/mo Founding rate for the first 100 MSPs, $540/user/yr annual; list $95. One price, everything included, 3-seat minimum. | Quote-based, no price No public price; since Dec 2025 Kaseya bills a committed minimum plus usage, replacing high watermark. |
Where Autotask Projects wins
Autotask is the billing system, so project time, milestones and expenses invoice with no sync. It brings 20+ years of maturity, the Kaseya ecosystem, scheduled LiveReports, a TV presentation mode and the Resource Planner added in 2026.
Where Current fits: Keep Autotask as the billing record and run delivery in Current: critical path, Kanban, PTO-aware scheduling and a customer portal that hides financials, with nothing to migrate.
Why MSPs choose Current
- Critical path, all four dependency types with lag, back-scheduling from a deadline and what-if previews are built in, not bought as a Moovila or TopLeft add-on.
- Scheduling skips weekends, company holidays and each person's PTO, the same way on the Timeline, the critical path and what-if, with Microsoft 365 busy time on the Schedule board.
- Gantt timeline, Kanban board, dependency map, calendar and a workload board all work on the same tasks, with 34 built-in playbooks and AI plan drafts from a pasted statement of work.
- My Day gives each person one page of the tasks and tickets assigned to them in suggested order, plus checklist steps that carry their own owner, due date and reminders.
- The customer portal keeps financials out by database rule: viewers see only their own projects and never reach time, rates or contract figures. Portal viewers are free.
- Works with the PSA you have: Autotask, ConnectWise, HaloPSA or Syncro stays the billing record, or projects run natively in Current. Time entries are checked against PSA rules before they save.
This is the two-tool view. See the full msp project management software, compared for all 8 tools side by side.