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Steelray Delay Analyzer vs nPlan

Two ways to put numbers on schedule delay, pointed in opposite directions. Not like-for-like (our reading): Steelray Delay Analyzer is desktop software for Primavera P6 that runs an automated half-step analysis on past XER updates to show which changes moved the finish date, with no AI described and published per-user prices; nPlan is an AI-first forecasting and risk platform that projects which dates will slip and why, using a dataset it says holds more than 750,000 past schedules, priced through its sales team with Schedule Studio free to start. Desk research from vendor pages read Oct 29, 2026; not tested, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH, NOT TESTED. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Oct 29, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Steelray Delay Analyzer (Forensic delay & critical path analysis (Primavera P6); vendor publishes prices) vs nPlan (Scheduling & risk; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Oct 29, 2026. No winner declared; not tested.

Side by side

Steelray Delay Analyzer vs nPlan: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowSteelray Delay AnalyzernPlan
CategoryForensic delay & critical path analysis (Primavera P6)Scheduling & risk
AI role (our label)Not AI-firstAI-first
What it doesDesktop delay-analysis software for Primavera P6 schedules that automates half-step analysis to find and quantify delays. Vendor says it runs a fully automated half-step analysis using the Daily Progress Method, following AACE RP 29R-03 (MIP 3.4), on any number of XER update exports, and identifies and quantifies delays that moved the finish date, including concurrent and but-for delays. Outputs listed: an Overview Report splitting delays and accelerations into progress-related changes and schedule revisions per period, Period Detail Reports naming the activities that drove impact, longest-path change analysis, a contemporaneous critical path for each window, a progress-only schedule export, near-critical thresholds, an Excel export, and a 3D Gantt where you drag the data date. Vendor says it is chosen by delay experts and expert witnesses in claims disputes (vendor claim). Steelray also sells Project Analyzer (MS Project quality), Analyzer for P6 (Steelray and DCMA checks) and Project Viewer. The site does not describe AI. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: Delay Analyzer page unchanged in substance (automated half-step / Daily Progress Method per AACE RP 29R-03 MIP 3.4 on XER updates; Overview and Period Detail reports, longest-path change analysis, contemporaneous critical path, progress-only schedule export, 3D Gantt). Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: unchanged in substance; the page also lists schedule revision summaries showing float before and after each change, delay overlays and longest-path, critical or progress filters on the 3D Gantt, a timeline view by day, week or period, selectable analysis targets (any activity or milestone, or the project finish) and a network diagram; the Steelray homepage still lists Project Analyzer, Analyzer for P6 (Steelray and DCMA quality checks) and Project Viewer. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: Delay Analyzer page unchanged in substance (fully automated half-step analysis by the Daily Progress Method per AACE RP 29R-03 MIP 3.4 on any number of XER updates; concurrent delays; Overview and Period Detail reports; schedule revision summaries; 3D Gantt that steps the data date as finely as hour by hour; Excel report with Overview, Period Detail and Longest Path Change Analysis tabs; near-critical threshold; network diagram). Training videos are on Steelray's YouTube channel. The site still does not describe AI. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (automated half-step analysis for Primavera P6 schedules). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (half-step analysis by the Daily Progress Method per AACE RP 29R-03 for Primavera P6; concurrent and but-for delays). Still no AI described. Re-checked Oct 29, 2026: unchanged (automated half-step analysis by the Daily Progress Method per AACE RP 29R-03 MIP 3.4 for Primavera P6 XER updates; concurrent and but-for delays; Purchase, Request a Demo and Screenshot Tour). Still no AI described; the days-saved line is a vendor claim and not used.AI for project controls trained on a dataset the vendor says contains 750,000+ historical schedules (over $2Tn of construction spend). Four use cases: Plan (generate schedules from scope documents, check schedule integrity), Assure (activity-level uncertainty forecasts), De-risk (flag risky activities and check them against your risk register), and Deliver (project and portfolio summaries). Products: Portfolio, Insights, Schedule Studio, and Schedule Integrity Checker; vendor says Schedule Studio connects to Claude and ChatGPT and exports XER. Works with existing schedules. Sectors listed include highways, rail, and heavy infrastructure. Re-read Oct 17, 2026: the homepage also points to a Model Performance 101 white paper that frames forecast accuracy as mean absolute error (MAE), which it says falls as more schedules become available, and offers user training courses with certifications. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the homepage now also lists Decision Intelligence (route options when a project reaches a crossroads) and Insights Risk Professional, cites $500bn of projects under active management (vendor claim), mentions a Driving Paths view in Schedule Studio, and offers nPlan Academy courses of about two hours with certifications. Its featured white paper is now AI-First Project Controls and Delivery; the Model Performance 101 paper we noted Oct 17 is no longer linked on the homepage. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance (750,000+ schedules and over $2Tn of spend, the four use cases, $500bn under active management, nPlan Academy courses of about two hours); the product menu lists Insights Pro, Insights Core, Insights Contract Risk, Insights Risk Professional, Insights Project Management Professional, Portfolio, Schedule Integrity Checker, Schedule Studio and Decision Intelligence, and a featured blog post describes Schedule Studio's link to Claude and ChatGPT for questions, edits, health checks and XER export (vendor statements). Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: unchanged in substance (750,000+ historical schedules, the four use cases, Schedule Studio's link to Claude and ChatGPT with XER export, nPlan Academy courses of about two hours); the homepage now lists Project Controls Expo Australia 2026 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground among its events and a blog recap of its AI Day mentioning a Decision Intelligence demo and an orchestration engine it calls Khaleesi (vendor statements). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged in substance; the site lists upcoming events at Wembley Stadium, London (Nov 2, 2026) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (Nov 23, 2026). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance (schedule risk forecasting trained on 750,000 past project schedules, Decision Intelligence, a schedule assistant that works with Claude and ChatGPT, nPlan Academy); events now list Project Controls Expo UK (Nov 2, 2026) and Australia (Nov 23, 2026). Spend and portfolio figures remain vendor claims not used here. Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: a blog item on the site says Schedule Studio now connects to Claude and ChatGPT, so you can ask questions about a schedule, edit it, run health checks and export XER from those assistants (vendor description). Events listed: Project Controls Expo UK (Nov 2, 2026) and Australia (Nov 23, 2026). Schedule-count and project-value figures on the homepage are vendor claims and not used here. Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance (Schedule Studio still described as connecting to Claude and ChatGPT; Project Controls Expo UK and Australia still listed among events). Schedule-count and outcome figures remain vendor claims not used here. Re-checked Oct 27, 2026: the homepage now says Schedule Integrity Checker is part of Schedule Studio (bundling note, not a rename of nPlan); Project Controls Expo UK and Australia are still listed among events. Schedule-count and outcome figures remain vendor claims not used here. Re-checked Oct 29, 2026 (read for a compare): the homepage now says its AI has watched more than a million real projects (the dataset section still cites 750,000+ past schedules; vendor claims), says uploaded plans do not train the model unless you opt in, and the product menu says Schedule Integrity Checker is now part of Schedule Studio. The Schedule Studio sign-up page describes scope-to-schedule generation with up to 3 WBS levels, natural-language editing marked beta, and export to Primavera P6. Its public-data project studies are vendor material and not used. Re-read Oct 29, 2026 (9 AM, for a compare): the homepage now shows worked projections of public projects built from planning filings (a Scotland data centre campus and a theme park land; vendor studies, not used), says a first look at a customer's plan takes about half an hour, and says uploaded plans do not train the model unless the customer opts in (vendor statements).
Who it's forScheduling professionals, delay analysts and claims consultants working with Primavera P6 updates (vendor wording).Project owners and contractors' project controls teams.
Pricing (as publicly stated)Per user, unlimited projects, tech support and updates included: annual subscription $3,990 per user per year, or monthly subscription $390 per user per month. (Pricing checked Oct 15, 2026; unchanged Oct 19, 2026: annual $3,990 per user per year or monthly $390 per user per month; unlimited projects, tech support and updates included.) Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: no price change (annual $3,990 per user per year or monthly $390 per user per month, both auto-renewing; unlimited projects, tech support and updates included). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: no price change (annual $3,990 per user per year or monthly $390 per user per month, both auto-renewing; unlimited projects, tech support and updates included). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged ($3,990 per user per year annual, $390 per user per month monthly, auto-renewing). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged ($3,990 per user per year annual, $390 per user per month monthly, both auto-renewing). Re-checked Oct 27, 2026: unchanged ($3,990 per user per year annual, $390 per user per month monthly, both auto-renewing; unlimited projects, tech support and updates included). Re-checked Oct 29, 2026: unchanged ($3,990 per user per year annual, $390 per user per month monthly, both auto-renewing; unlimited projects, tech support and updates included).No public prices found (checked Oct 16, 2026; unchanged Oct 17, 2026 evening re-read): the vendor site has no pricing or plans link in its navigation or footer, and /pricing and /plans return a not-found page. The site's calls to action include "Get a demo" and "Talk to us". Confirm current pricing with the vendor. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: unchanged. /pricing still returns not found. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: unchanged; /pricing still returns not found; Talk to us. Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: unchanged; /pricing still returns not found; Talk to us. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged; /pricing still returns not found; Talk to us. Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: unchanged (no public prices; /pricing still returns a 404 page; demo on request). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (no public prices; /pricing still returns a 404 page; demo on request). Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: unchanged (/pricing returns not found; Talk to us; no prices). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged; /pricing still returns not found; Talk to us. Re-checked Oct 27, 2026: unchanged; /pricing still returns not found; Talk to us. Re-checked Oct 28, 2026: still no published prices; /pricing still returns not found and the main call to action is Talk to us. The homepage now also has a Try it free button and says Schedule Studio is free to start for planners and risk teams, linking to a Schedule Studio sign-up page (Sign up and start for free); no paid tiers or prices are shown. Re-checked Oct 29, 2026: unchanged (no published prices; Talk to us; Schedule Studio free to start, no credit card required).
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Sources

Facts last checked: Oct 29, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • Direction: Steelray says Delay Analyzer identifies and quantifies the delays that impacted the finish date, including concurrent and but-for delays, by comparing successive schedule updates. nPlan says it shows where a project will lose time, why, and which interventions buy the most of it back, months ahead. One explains what already happened between updates; the other forecasts what may happen next (vendor statements).
  • Method: Steelray names a fully automated half-step analysis using the Daily Progress Method, following AACE RP 29R-03 (MIP 3.4), run on any number of P6 XER update exports. nPlan says its forecasts come from AI trained on its archive of past project schedules and forecast the uncertainty of every activity, not just a rolled-up date; it also flags risky activities and checks them against an uploaded risk register.
  • Products: Steelray sells Delay Analyzer alongside Project Analyzer, Analyzer for P6 and Project Viewer. nPlan lists Portfolio, Decision Intelligence, Insights Pro, Insights Core, Insights Risk Professional and Schedule Studio, which generates and edits schedules with generative AI and now includes the Schedule Integrity Checker; nPlan's tool page records Schedule Studio's link to Claude and ChatGPT and XER export (vendor statements).
  • Who it is for: Steelray says Delay Analyzer is chosen by professionals who conduct delay analyses and serve as expert witnesses in claims disputes (vendor statement). nPlan's menus name owner-operators, general contractors and consultants, and portfolio directors, PMO managers, planners and risk managers, across data centers, buildings, utilities, energy and transportation.
  • Data handling: Steelray Delay Analyzer is desktop software that works on XER exports. nPlan says uploaded plans do not train its model unless the customer opts in (vendor statement).
  • Pricing (checked Oct 29, 2026): Steelray lists an annual subscription at $3,990 per user per year or a monthly subscription at $390 per user per month, both auto-renewing, with unlimited projects, tech support and updates. nPlan publishes no prices (/pricing returns not found; Talk to us); its homepage says Schedule Studio is free to start for planners and risk teams. See each tool page for detail.
  • Not like-for-like: a claims or forensic schedule team and a forward-looking project controls or risk team may each want one of these. No vendor page we read says a forecast replaces a forensic delay analysis, or that a half-step analysis forecasts future slippage.
  • Not used here: nPlan's dataset-spend, projects-under-management and accuracy figures, its worked projections of public projects and customer logos, and Steelray's days-saved line (vendor material). Neither tool has been tested by Means & Methods Lab.

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

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Questions to ask in your review

  • Whether nPlan's explanation of a past slip agrees with a half-step analysis of the same P6 updates
  • What nPlan's paid products cost for one project or a portfolio
  • How either tool handles schedules from software other than Primavera P6
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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