ShareShift vs Microsoft SPMT and Migration Manager
Microsoft's free tools are good at what they cover. They do not read SharePoint Online as a source, do not move Teams channels between tenants, and cannot resume a failed run. ShareShift covers that gap.
30-day free trial, full product, card taken at checkout, nothing charged until day 30. Prices below in USD; change currency.
Start with the free tools. The SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) moves SharePoint Server 2010 to 2019 and file shares into SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Teams, with versions, permissions, managed metadata, navigation, web parts and incremental re-runs. Migration Manager moves file shares, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and Egnyte with agents that scale linearly, delta sync for file shares and 250 GB file support. If your project is one of those shapes, use them.
The gap is everything else. Neither tool accepts SharePoint Online as a source, so restructuring inside a tenant is out. Tenant to tenant SharePoint is a PowerShell process: one-and-done, no delta pass, sites must not pre-exist, Teams channels not moved, and for sites only available to Enterprise Agreement customers, licensed per 100 GB. Migration Orchestrator, in preview since December 2025, moves mailboxes, OneDrive and personal chats but explicitly not Teams channels or SharePoint sites.
ShareShift covers that gap: SharePoint Online to SharePoint Online with list, column, content type, page and navigation mapping, tenant to tenant with delta passes for anyone, Teams channels with conversations and private channels, Planner, and a resumable project across many sources and workers. It costs $499 a month or $2,995 a year, and the 30-day trial is free with card taken at checkout, not charged until day 30.
What each tool gives you
| Area | Microsoft SPMT and Migration Manager | ShareShift |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | SPMT: versions, permissions, managed metadata, navigation, web parts and 2010 and 2013 workflows from SharePoint Server and file shares. Migration Manager: files and folders from file shares and cloud drives. | File shares, SharePoint Online including lists, columns, content types, pages and navigation, OneDrive, Teams with private channels and chat archives, and Planner. Versions, authors and timestamps preserved. |
| SharePoint Online as a source | Not supported by SPMT or Migration Manager. Cross-tenant PowerShell moves: no delta pass, sites must not pre-exist, 5 TB or 1 million items per site. | Supported. Site to site, library to library, merges and splits inside a tenant, and tenant to tenant with incremental delta passes. |
| Pause and resume | Incremental re-runs in SPMT and delta sync for file shares in Migration Manager. Cross-tenant PowerShell moves are one-and-done. | Every step is persisted. Pause, stop, schedule and resume on any worker, with incremental re-runs that keep version history. |
| Pricing model | SPMT and Migration Manager are free. Cross-tenant moves need the per-user Cross-tenant User Data Migration licence (price not published by Microsoft) and, for SharePoint sites, an Enterprise Agreement with per-100 GB licensing. | $499 a month or $2,995 a year per organisation, three workers included, unlimited data, no per-user or per-gigabyte charges. |
| Teams | SPMT targets Teams for files only. Cross-tenant PowerShell does not migrate Teams channels or structure. Migration Orchestrator moves 1:1 and group chats and meetings, not channels. | Standard and private channels with conversation history, authors and timestamps, chat archives and Planner, within and between tenants. |
| MSP licensing | Free tools carry no licence; cross-tenant licences are bought per user per client. | MSP plan: ten client organisation slots and ten workers for $7,995 a year, with per-client and white-label reports. |
| Data caps | Migration Manager: 250 GB files, 50 concurrent cloud tasks. Cross-tenant: 5 TB or 1 million items per site. | Unlimited data on every plan, including the trial. |
| Deployment | Agents run on your machines and push to Microsoft, the same pattern as ShareShift. | Worker-only. Workers run inside your network and push directly to Microsoft-provided containers in the destination tenant. |
Microsoft facts from learn.microsoft.com (SPMT supported features, Migration Manager what's new and FAQ, cross-tenant SharePoint and OneDrive migration, Migration Orchestrator overview), updated between April 2025 and August 2026. ShareShift prices exclude tax.
What it costs, with the numbers shown
250-user tenant to tenant SharePoint and Teams migration
- Cross-tenant User Data Migration licence per user; price not published, reseller listings suggest roughly US$15 per user (unverified)
- SharePoint sites: Enterprise Agreement only, per 100 GB
- Teams channels not migrated; no delta pass
- Annual: $2,995 a year
- SharePoint sites, Teams channels, Planner and OneDrive with delta passes
- Or three months of Monthly: $1,497 in total
Microsoft facts from learn.microsoft.com cross-tenant SharePoint and OneDrive migration pages, May 2026. The per-user figure is unverified.
MSP with ten clients: file server to SharePoint Online
- Free with SPMT or Migration Manager
- Per-client agents, no unified project state or multi-client reporting
- No SharePoint Online sources, no Teams channels, no Planner
- MSP plan: $7,995 a year
- Ten client slots and ten workers, multi-client reporting
- Assessment reports before each cutover
Where the free tools are stronger
Microsoft's tools are free, supported and improving. For these projects they are the right answer:
- SharePoint Server 2010 to 2019 sources: SPMT migrates them with versions, permissions, managed metadata, navigation and out-of-the-box 2010 and 2013 workflows. ShareShift's launch sources do not include SharePoint Server.
- Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and Egnyte: Migration Manager moves them, with PowerShell and custom Azure storage. ShareShift does not read those sources.
- Plain file share to SharePoint Online or OneDrive moves with no restructuring: free, linear-scaling agents and delta sync.
- Mailboxes and personal chats between tenants: Migration Orchestrator covers them and ShareShift does not do mail.
The parts that made people look for an alternative
- Worker-only: content never passes through our cloud, and we are never a processor of it.
- Pause, stop, schedule and resume on any worker, with incremental re-runs that keep version history.
- One flat price per organisation, unlimited data, three workers, from $499 a month with no commitment.
- Lists, columns, content types, pages and navigation, not just documents; Teams private channels and chat archives; Planner.
- Pro at $4,995 a year: eight workers and three organisation slots, half of ShareGate Pro.
- Ten client organisations under one $7,995 a year MSP licence.
Questions people ask before switching
Is SPMT free?
Yes. SPMT and Migration Manager are free. Cross-tenant moves are different: they need the per-user Cross-tenant User Data Migration licence and, for SharePoint sites, an Enterprise Agreement with per-100 GB licensing.
Can SPMT migrate SharePoint Online to SharePoint Online?
No. Neither SPMT nor Migration Manager accepts SharePoint Online as a source. Restructuring inside a tenant or moving sites between tenants with delta passes needs a third-party tool, which is what ShareShift is for.
Can Microsoft's tools migrate Teams channels between tenants?
Not today. The cross-tenant PowerShell process does not migrate Teams channels or structure, and Migration Orchestrator explicitly does not migrate Teams channels or SharePoint sites. ShareShift moves standard and private channels with conversations, plus Planner.
Should I use ShareShift alongside the free tools?
Often, yes. Use SPMT for SharePoint Server, Migration Manager for cloud drives and Migration Orchestrator for mail, and ShareShift for SharePoint Online sources, Teams channels and Planner.
What does ShareShift cost against free?
$499 a month with no commitment or $2,995 a year, with three workers and unlimited data. The 30-day free trial is the full product with card taken at checkout, not charged until day 30.
Run ShareShift next to Microsoft SPMT and Migration Manager for 30 days
Point it at a real site or team, compare the reports, and decide with evidence. Full product, three workers, no data limit, card taken at checkout, not charged until day 30.
Mid-project with Microsoft tools? Read what carries over.