Compare
Primer and P6, better together
Keep P6 as your planning tool. Primer reads the same files, works out the dates again and adds cost, risk, contracts and reporting on the same links.
Primer with P6
What each one does
Items marked Coming soon are built and arrive with the next release. Book a demo to see it early.
| Primavera P6 | Primer adds |
|---|---|
| Build and update the programme, the plan of record | Reads the same XER or P6 XML, with calendars, codes, resources and baselines |
| Schedules the plan | Schedules it again with its own engine and shows the match to P6 on every run |
| Layouts and filters for planners | Opens P6 .plf layouts in a fast web Gantt that anyone can use, with free viewers |
| Reports by export or add-on tools | Critical path, look-ahead, DCMA checks, S-curves and chart packs, ready each period |
| Baselines | Compares any two updates and shows why the finish moved |
| Risk and cost fields on activities | Full risk and cost modules on the same links, with risks and costs sent back to P6 Coming soon |
| Contracts kept elsewhere | NEC4 contracts, compensation events and payments linked to the programme Coming soon |
Proof you can check
Primer's dates match P6 on 92.7% of open activities across 110 real schedules. It scheduled a 31,879 activity programme in about a minute. Tested on real schedules, and the match is shown on every run so you can check it on yours.
Schedule run results showing how many activities match P6 dates
Other project controls tools
Primer, Contruent and Octave Sequence
Contruent (formerly ARES PRISM) and Octave Sequence (formerly Hexagon EcoSys) are established project controls products. Here is how they compare on the points our customers ask about most.
| Point | Primer | Contruent | Octave Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEC4 contracts | Built in: early warnings, compensation events with time bars, Contract Data, Options A, B, C and E, Defined Cost, PWDD, pain and gain. Coming soon | No native NEC support found in its public material. | No native NEC support found in its public material. |
| Scheduling and P6 | Its own scheduling engine that matches P6. Reads XER and P6 XML. Sends risks, costs and the control account code back to P6. | A P6 link that is mostly one way: activities roll up to control accounts and dates drive the cost spread. | A P6 connector, licensed separately, with a wide read. Write-back to P6 is narrow. |
| Risk and cost in one model | One model for schedule, cost, risk and change. Quantified cost and schedule risk sizes the contingency. Coming soon | Contingency phasing and drawdown. No quantitative risk analysis found in its public material. | Contingency drawdown with a warning band. No quantitative risk analysis found in its public material. |
| Portfolio funding | Funding, stage gates, prioritisation and scenarios across the portfolio. Coming soon | Portfolio and scenario planning not prominent in its public material. | Strong: portfolio planning, prioritisation, capital budgeting and fund management. |
| UK regulation and practice | Ofgem RIIO cost views, ICMS 3, NRM, CESMM4, estimating in the style of IPA guidance. Coming soon | Ofgem RIIO views not found in its public material. | Ofgem RIIO views not found in its public material. |
| Carbon | Carbon budget, actuals and forecast on the same cost lines. Coming soon | Carbon alongside cost, including PAS 2080, in its public material. | Not found in its public material. |
| Where it runs | Hosted by us. Primer for Fabric installs in your own Fabric today; Primer Cloud in your own Azure tenant is coming. | Available through G-Cloud. | Not stated in the public material we reviewed. |
| Where they are stronger | Primer is newer and comes from a smaller company. It does not yet have direct ERP connectors. | A long UK rail and infrastructure track record, ERP connectors (SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, Dynamics), a contractor portal and a large report library. | Very configurable, with no-code screens and workflows, deep forecasting methods and an AI assistant. |
From public material and published reviews, October 2026. Where we found nothing we say so; that does not prove a feature is missing. Products change, so check with each supplier. Contruent, Octave and Sequence are trademarks of their owners. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.
See the comparison on your own programme
Book a demo and we will show Primer on Oracle's P6 demo data, or on a schedule you send us. Or start a free trial: one month for up to 5 users on the Control edition, no card needed.