Choose Kendis if
- You need PI Objectives and risks as structured data, not wiki pages.
- You plan across more than one Azure DevOps organisation.
- Some teams are in Jira and some in Azure DevOps.
- You want a confidence vote, predictability and scope change reporting.
- You run Solution Trains and need a view across ARTs.
Choose Delivery Plans if
- All teams are in one Azure DevOps organisation.
- A cross-team calendar with dependency lines is all you need.
- You are happy to keep objectives and risks in the wiki or custom fields.
- You want to stay entirely inside the Microsoft stack at no extra cost.
What is the best alternative to Azure DevOps Delivery Plans for PI Planning?
Kendis is a strong alternative to Delivery Plans for SAFe PI Planning in Azure DevOps. It syncs two-way with Azure Boards and adds a program board with capacity, managed dependencies, PI Objectives with business value, a ROAM risk register, a confidence vote and predictability reports.
Microsoft describes a delivery plan as showing "selected teams' scheduled work items by sprint or iteration path in a calendar view."[1] It is part of the core Azure Boards product. Microsoft also publishes guidance for running SAFe on Azure Boards, and that guidance is candid about where structure ends: iteration and PI objectives are captured in the project wiki, dashboard widgets or work item descriptions.[2]
Kendis vs Azure DevOps Delivery Plans at a glance
| Kendis | Delivery Plans | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of product | PI Planning layer that syncs with Azure DevOps and Jira | Calendar view built into Azure Boards[1] |
| Pricing | $14 per user per month billed annually, $16 monthly. You license the people who plan, not every Jira user. Pricing | Included in Azure DevOps Basic at $6 per user per month, with the first five users free[3] |
| Free option | 6 months free, no credit card | First five Basic users free[3] |
| Deployment | Cloud or self-hosted on your own infrastructure | Azure DevOps Services, and Azure DevOps Server 2022 and later[1] |
| Hosting region | Your choice at signup: EU (OVHcloud, Frankfurt) or US (AWS) | Eight geographies including Europe. Microsoft states it does not move customer data outside the chosen location.[4] |
| Work sources | Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center, Azure DevOps and TFS, two-way | Azure Boards |
| Teams per plan | No fixed limit published | Up to 20 team backlogs, across projects[1] |
| Across organisations | Yes. A solution board can combine boards from different sources | "Dependencies across organizations aren't supported."[5] |
| Security | ISO/IEC 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, DORA Schedule available | ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 2 and others[4] |
How do Kendis and Delivery Plans compare on PI Planning features?
Delivery Plans documents a cross-team calendar with dependency lines and milestone markers. PI Objectives, risks and OKRs are handled through wiki pages, custom fields and extensions. Kendis provides them as built-in features connected to the same work items.
| Feature | Kendis | Azure DevOps Delivery Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Planning board | Yes. Program board with team rows and iteration columns | Yes. Calendar of team backlogs by iteration, with drag to reschedule[1] |
| Dependency management | Yes. Lines on the board, list view, dependency wheel, due dates and alerts | Yes. Lines for Predecessor and Successor links, red when dates conflict[5] |
| Capacity and load | Yes. Capacity per team per iteration against planned load | Team-level velocity and forecast tools[2] |
| PI Objectives with business value | Yes. Planned and actual business value, linked to features and stories | Kept in the project wiki, dashboard widgets or work item descriptions[2] |
| ROAM risks | Yes. ROAM risk register linked to features | Not documented |
| Confidence vote | Yes. Per team and for the whole PI | Not documented |
| Predictability reporting | Yes. Predictability and performance reports | Not documented. Velocity, cumulative flow and cycle time widgets are available |
| Inspect and Adapt | Yes. Inspect and Adapt module with PI comparisons | Retrospectives through a separate Microsoft DevLabs extension[2] |
| Solution Train / multi-ART | Yes. Solution board across ARTs, mixing Jira and Azure DevOps boards | By customisation: extra portfolio backlogs and area paths. "Azure Boards doesn't support a hierarchy of teams."[2] |
| OKRs | Yes. OKRs and strategic themes | Through a third-party extension[2] |
| Milestones | Yes | Yes. Up to 30 milestone markers per plan[6] |
When is Delivery Plans the better choice?
Choose Delivery Plans when all your teams are in one Azure DevOps organisation and you need a shared calendar of what ships when, with dependency lines, at no additional cost.
- It is already there. Delivery Plans is part of Azure Boards and included in the Basic licence.[3]
- Cross-project view. A plan can show up to 20 team backlogs from different projects.[1]
- Data location and certifications. A European geography with no replication outside it, and a long certification list.[4]
- Self-hosted. Available on Azure DevOps Server 2022 and later.[1]
Why do Azure DevOps teams choose Kendis for PI Planning?
Teams choose Kendis when they want the PI Planning artefacts as data: objectives that can be scored, risks that have owners, a vote that is recorded, and reports that come from all of it without manual work.
Objectives and risks stop living in the wiki
In Kendis a PI Objective has planned and actual business value and links to the work items that deliver it. A risk has a ROAM status, an owner and a due date. That is what makes predictability and Inspect and Adapt reporting possible without rebuilding numbers by hand.
It crosses organisation and tool boundaries
Delivery Plans does not support dependencies across Azure DevOps organisations.[5] Kendis connects to several sources, and a solution board can bring together trains from different Azure DevOps organisations and from Jira.
A plan made for the event, then tracked
During PI Planning each team sets capacity, pulls features into iterations and creates stories that are written to Azure DevOps. After the event Kendis keeps the baseline and shows what was added, removed or moved. See PI Planning in Azure DevOps for the walkthrough.
Cost stays small because few people need it
Delivery Plans costs nothing extra, and Kendis does not replace it. Kendis is licensed for planners only, typically 15 to 25 people per train, at $14 per user per month on annual billing.
How do you try Kendis alongside Delivery Plans?
You do not need to replace anything to evaluate Kendis. It reads from and writes to the Jira or Azure DevOps backlog you already have, so you can run it next to Delivery Plans for a PI and compare the two on real work.
- Sign up for the six-month free trial and pick EU or US hosting. No credit card is asked for.
- Connect Jira or Azure DevOps and choose the boards or projects for one Agile Release Train.
- Load the features for the next PI with a JQL filter or Azure DevOps query. Linked stories come in with them.
- Run PI Planning on the board: capacity, dependencies, objectives, ROAM and the confidence vote.
- Track the PI against the planning baseline, then decide with two PIs of evidence.
Your Delivery Plans keep working. Kendis reads the same work items and Predecessor and Successor links, so dependencies you have already set appear on the Kendis board.
Try Kendis free for 6 months
Kendis is a PI Planning and tracking platform that sits on top of Jira and Azure DevOps. The free trial runs for six months, long enough to plan and track two full PIs with your real backlog before anyone has to approve a budget.
- 6 months free, no credit card
- Choose EU hosting (OVHcloud, Frankfurt) or US hosting (AWS)
- Planning board, dependencies, PI objectives, ROAM risks, solution boards
- Two-way sync with Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center and Azure DevOps
- ISO/IEC 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, DORA Schedule available
- No user caps and no setup costs during the trial
One trial per organisation that has not used Kendis in the last twelve months. After the trial, Premium Cloud is $14 per user per month billed annually, or $16 monthly, and you license only the people who plan. SSO, Kendis AI and premium support are part of paid plans. See pricing and the free trial terms.
Compare Kendis with other PI Planning tools
New to the topic? Read the PI Planning guide or the scaling agile guide.
Kendis vs Azure DevOps Delivery Plans: frequently asked questions
Can you do PI Planning in Azure DevOps?
Yes, with limits. Microsoft publishes guidance for SAFe on Azure Boards and Delivery Plans gives a cross-team calendar with dependencies. PI Objectives are kept in the wiki, dashboards or work item descriptions, and there is no built-in ROAM board or confidence vote.
How many teams can a Delivery Plan show?
Microsoft states that a delivery plan can show up to 20 team backlogs, including backlogs and teams from different projects.
Do Delivery Plans work across Azure DevOps organisations?
No. Microsoft's documentation states that dependencies across organizations are not supported. Kendis can combine boards from different organisations on a solution board.
Is Delivery Plans free?
It is included in the Azure DevOps Basic licence, which Microsoft lists at $6 per user per month with the first five users free.
Does Kendis sync with Azure DevOps in both directions?
Yes. Kendis syncs two-way with Azure DevOps and TFS. Features and stories planned on the Kendis board are written to Azure DevOps, and changes there appear on the board.
Can Kendis combine Azure DevOps and Jira teams?
Yes. A Kendis solution board can bring together program boards that use Azure DevOps and program boards that use Jira.
Do I have to stop using Delivery Plans to use Kendis?
No. Both read the same work items. Many teams keep Delivery Plans for a quick calendar view and use Kendis for PI Planning, objectives, risks and reporting.
Sources
Every external claim in this guide links to the primary source below. All links were checked on 12 October 2026.
- Microsoft Learn. Use team delivery plans (Azure Boards).
- Microsoft Learn. Implement SAFe with Azure Boards: concepts.
- Microsoft Azure. Azure DevOps Services pricing.
- Microsoft Learn. Data protection overview (Azure DevOps).
- Microsoft Learn. Track dependencies in Delivery Plans.
- Microsoft Learn. Add or edit a Delivery Plan.
How this comparison was made: statements about Azure DevOps Delivery Plans come from the vendor's own website, documentation and marketplace listing, linked above and checked on 12 October 2026. Statements about Kendis come from Kendis. Products change, so if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners.