Microsoft Lists

Microsoft 365's list and tracker app, built on SharePoint and available inside Teams.

Visit Microsoft Lists See 5 alternatives

Verified facts: 3 of 3
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Microsoft Lists

Microsoft Lists is the tracking app included with Microsoft 365 business plans. Each list is a table of items with typed columns such as text, choice, dates, people, files and lookups, shown as a grid, gallery, board or calendar, with conditional formatting, rules that send notifications and forms for adding items. Lists are stored in SharePoint and OneDrive, so they inherit Microsoft 365 permissions, compliance and retention policies, and can be created from templates, from scratch or from an Excel table, then pinned as tabs in Microsoft Teams. Power Automate and Power Apps connect to lists for heavier workflows or custom front ends. For organisations already paying for Microsoft 365 it is the obvious first stop for issue trackers, asset registers and event plans, at no extra cost. It runs in the browser with mobile apps. It is not a true relational database: lookups are limited, large lists hit view thresholds, and it is only available with a Microsoft account.

Best for: Microsoft 365 organisations wanting simple shared trackers without buying another tool.

What works

Included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions
Inherits SharePoint security, compliance and retention
Works inside Teams and connects to Power Automate

Why people leave

Limited relational features compared with Airtable
Large lists run into view thresholds
Only useful inside the Microsoft ecosystem

Top Microsoft Lists alternatives

See all 5

1
Airtable
Proper linked records and richer interfaces for more complex data.
66.5
2
SmartSuite
More capable work-management database when lists outgrow SharePoint.
62.6
3
Zoho Tables
Low-cost Airtable-style tables for teams outside the Microsoft ecosystem.
57.2
4
Microsoft Power Apps
Build a custom app on the same Microsoft data when a list is not enough.
50.3
5
Notion
Databases embedded in docs and wikis, popular with smaller teams.
43.0

Why people left Microsoft Lists

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Microsoft Lists: common questions

Is Microsoft Lists free?

No, Microsoft Lists is a paid product.

Is Microsoft Lists open source?

No, Microsoft Lists is not open source.

What platforms does Microsoft Lists run on?

Microsoft Lists is available for Web, iOS and Android.

What are the best alternatives to Microsoft Lists?

The highest-ranked Microsoft Lists alternatives right now are Airtable, SmartSuite and Zoho Tables. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Microsoft Lists alternatives

Microsoft Lists facts

3 of 3 verified

Pricing: Included in Microsoft 365; Checked Oct 25, 2026adoption.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “is included in your Microsoft 365 subscription.”
Where it works: Lists app, SharePoint, Teams; Checked Oct 25, 2026support.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “The Lists app in Microsoft 365 Microsoft SharePoint Microsoft Teams”
Data types: Text, dates, files and more; Checked Oct 25, 2026support.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “Lists can include multiple types of data, such as text, dates, and files, making them ideal for tracking tasks, issues, and other essential information.”