Smartsheet Review (2023): Features, Pricing & Alternatives

Smartsheet is one of the leading project management platforms. From onboarding to documentation, the Smartsheet platform offers robust features, workflows and automation for general project management needs.

SEE: Use our project manager hiring kit to find the best person to lead your project teams.

While some project management platforms serve niche teams and industries, Smartsheet is a project management software that can serve a much wider user base. The interface will feel familiar to spreadsheet users, but Smartsheet adds capabilities that are difficult or impossible to build from scratch in Excel.

You can continue reading to learn about the pros, cons, pricing and other standout features of Smartsheet. We have also shared some top alternatives to consider if you feel Smartsheet isn’t the right fit for your organization.

Jump to:

• Smartsheet Pricing
• Key features of Smartsheet
• Smartsheet Pros
• Smartsheet Cons
• Smartsheet integrations
• Who is Smartsheet best for?
• If Smartsheet isn’t ideal for you, check out these alternatives
• Review methodology

Smartsheet Pricing

Free

Smartsheet is free for up to 1 user and 2 editors. This plan has plenty of basic features, including dashboards, reports, Gantt charts, 100 automations per month and access to the learning center.

Pro

The Pro plan is priced at $7 per month per user billed yearly or $9 per month per user billed monthly. You get a maximum of 10 users and 10 editors in this plan. For features, you unlock email support, user management and integration capabilities.

Business

The Business plan is priced at $25 per month per user billed yearly or $32 per month per user billed monthly. You get unlimited users and editors in this plan. In addition, you get access to a full range of features, including a document builder, unlimited automations, proofing and activity log.

Enterprise

The Enterprise plan has customized pricing. This plan is best for organizations that need advanced security, reporting and analytics features.

Key features of Smartsheet

Team collaboration tools

Smartsheet offers several tools (Figure A) for team collaboration and communication, so all team members stay aligned on a project. You can use the software to share notes, files, PDFs, and presentations and tasks, all through a centralized dashboard.

Figure A

Smartsheet team collaboration tools. Image: Smartsheet

The user interface of Smartsheet is highly customizable so that you can add or remove the collaboration features according to your preference. You can learn more about how to use Smartsheet project management software.

Task dependencies

Task dependencies allow you to determine the optimized task order to ensure maximum efficiency of the project. With Smartsheet, you get several tools to manage task dependencies. For example, you can create a Gantt chart (Figure B) that automatically updates to show the impact of existing and new tasks on the project schedule.

Figure B

The software can also automatically calculate the critical path to guide you on the sequence of tasks that can lead to the shortest duration of completing the project. In addition, you get access to dependency reports for a more detailed analysis.

Multiple views

Smartsheet offers a variety of project views (Figure C), and this is where it offers a major advantage over traditional spreadsheet solutions such as Microsoft Excel. With Smartsheet, you can transform spreadsheet data into cards, Gantt charts and calendar views.

Figure C

Users don’t need to master Excel spreadsheet conditions and formulas to use Smartsheet. For each alternative view, users can double-click on an existing task to read or edit its contents. You can edit existing tasks or subtask metadata, view attachments, create a proof or add a comment to the tasks.

Data Security

The higher priced plans offer access to enterprise-grade security tools such as single sign-on, AES 256-bit encryption, user access controls, two-factor authentication and more. You also get full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, System and Organization Controls, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other security and data privacy standards. The advanced data security tools are only available in Smartsheet’s Business and Enterprise plans.

Smartsheet Pros

• Robust data security features.
• Highly customizable interface.
• Smooth transition for new users who are familiar with spreadsheets.
• Over 350 built-in templates, including templates for Agile.
• Powerful reporting and analytics tools.

Smartsheet Cons

• Some pages don’t update in real time.
• Autosave feature is glitchy.
• Advanced tools have a steep learning curve.

Smartsheet integrations

• Slack: Integration with Slack gets you in-app notifications and the ability to create alerts and send direct messages without switching between applications.
• HubSpot: Automatic data sync for tasks, clients and account information.
• Microsoft Teams: Turn conversations into actions by integrating Smartsheet with Microsoft Teams, which allows you to send notifications and add Smartsheet Tabs within the Teams channels.
• DocuSign: Generate, sign and track electronic signatures on documents, all from within Smartsheet.
• Salesforce: Collaborate on sales in real time to help boost productivity, automate workflows and streamline collaboration.

Who is Smartsheet best for?

Smartsheet is dynamic and customizable project management software with a wide range of use cases. The ideal users of Smartsheet are those who are already familiar with spreadsheets and are looking for more functionality, such as multiple views.

While its interface is based on a spreadsheet model, it does offer much more than that. The customization options mean you can use Smartsheet for managing tasks, team collaboration, campaign tracking and several other functions.

If Smartsheet isn’t ideal for you, check out these alternatives

Smartsheet isn’t for everyone, especially for users uncomfortable with the spreadsheet-style layout. The lack of real-time data updates or the autosave glitches can also be significant drawbacks for some users. Fortunately, there are some worthy alternatives to Smartsheet.

Airtable

Airtable project management software offers flexibility and versatility for teams of all sizes. Compared to Smartsheet, Airtable offers more customization, a larger learning content database and a selection of templates. The pricing for Airtable starts at $10 per month per user when billed annually.

SEE: For more information, read our full Airtable review.

Asana

Asana and Smartsheet are both capable project management solutions and offer several similar features. Asana offers a more intuitive user interface that is simpler to use than Smartsheet. If your business values simplicity, then Asana would be a better choice. Asana’s paid plans start at $10.99 per month per user when billed annually.

SEE: To learn more about how Asana compares to Smartsheet, read the full comparison.

monday.com

monday work management is one the most popular project management software on the market. While Smartsheet offers a more structured and organized layout, monday work management flows more freely. With monday work management, you also get customized workflow solutions for specific functions, such as marketing. The pricing for monday work management starts at $10 per month per seat when billed annually.

SEE: Read our full comparison of monday work management vs. Smartsheet to determine which software is better for your needs.

Review methodology

To review Smartsheet, we analyzed the software through multiple parameters including standout features, ease of use, advanced tools and core features. Our review included a hands-on evaluation of the software. We also looked at Smartsheet’s features and compared them to competitors to understand the software’s pros and cons. To complete our review of Smartsheet, we also looked at other expert reviews and customer ratings from reputable websites.

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