Features, Pricing & Alternatives – TechToday

Smartsheet Quick Facts Price: Paid plans start at $7 per user per month, billed annually. Key features: Team collaboration tools. Task dependencies. Multiple types of views. Data security capabilities. Try Smartsheet’s free plan or take advantage of the 30-day free trial of their Pro and Business plans.

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.

I WILL SEE: Use our Project Manager Recruitment Kit to find the best person to lead your project teams.

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

You can read on to learn about the pros, cons, pricing, and other highlights of Smartsheet. We’ve also shared some of the best alternatives to consider if you think Smartsheet isn’t right for your organization.

Jump to:

Smartsheet Pricing

Free

Smartsheet is free for up to 1 user and 2 publishers. This plan has many 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 annually or $9 per month per user billed monthly. You get a maximum of 10 users and 10 publishers on this plan. For features, unlock email support, user management, and integration capabilities.

business

The Enterprise plan is priced at $25 per month per user billed annually or $32 per month per user billed monthly. You get unlimited users and publishers on this plan. Plus, you get access to a full range of features, including a document creator, unlimited automations, testing, and activity logging.

company

The Enterprise plan has custom 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 assignments, all through a centralized dashboard.

Figure A

Smartsheet team collaboration tools. Image: Smartsheet

Smartsheet’s user interface is highly customizable so you can add or remove collaboration features based on your preferences. Learn more about using Smartsheet project management software.

Task dependencies

Task dependencies allow you to determine the optimized order of tasks to ensure maximum project efficiency. With Smartsheet, you get several tools to manage task dependencies. For example, you can create a Gantt chart (Figure B) that is automatically updated 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 in the sequence of tasks that can lead to the shortest duration of project completion. Additionally, you have access to dependency reports for more detailed analysis.

Multiple views

Smartsheet offers a variety of project views (Figure C), and this is where it offers a significant 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 do not need to master Excel spreadsheet conditions and formulas to use Smartsheet. For each alternate view, users can double-click an existing task to read or edit its contents. You can edit existing tasks or subtask metadata, view attachments, create a test, or add a comment to tasks.

Data security

Higher-priced plans offer access to enterprise-grade security tools such as single sign-on, 256-bit AES encryption, user access controls, two-factor authentication, and more. It also complies with the General Data Protection Regulation, systems and organizational controls, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other data security and privacy standards. Advanced data security tools are only available in Smartsheet’s Business and Enterprise plans.

Pros of Smartsheet

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

Smartsheet Cons

• Some pages are not updated in real time.
• Autosave function failed.
• Advanced tools have a steep learning curve.

Smartsheet integrations

• Flux: Integration with Slack gives you in-app notifications and the ability to create alerts and send direct messages without switching apps.
• HubSpot: Automatic data synchronization for tasks, clients and account information.
• Microsoft Teams: Turn conversations into actions by integrating Smartsheet with Microsoft Teams, which lets you send notifications and add Smartsheet tabs to Teams channels.
• DocuSign: Generate, sign, and track electronic signatures on documents, all from Smartsheet.
• Sales Force: Collaborate in real-time sales to help increase 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. Smartsheet’s ideal users are those who are already familiar with spreadsheets and are looking for more functionality, such as multiple views.

Although its interface is based on a spreadsheet model, it offers much more than that. Customization options mean you can use Smartsheet for task management, team collaboration, campaign tracking, and various other features.

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

Smartsheet isn’t for everyone, especially users uncomfortable with spreadsheet-style design. Lack of real-time data updates or autosave errors can also be major drawbacks for some users. Fortunately, there are some decent alternatives to Smartsheet.

software	Smartsheet	air table	asana	Monday’s work management
Multiple types of views	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Customizable workflow	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Easy to use	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Collaboration tools	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free plan	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Starting price for payment levels	$7 per user per month	$10 per user per month	$10.99 per user per month	$8 per user per month

air table

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. Airtable pricing starts at $10 per month per user when billed annually.

I WILL SEE: To learn more, read our full Airtable review.

asana

Asana and Smartsheet are capable project management solutions and offer many 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.

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

monday.com

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

I WILL SEE: Read our full comparison of Monday Work Management with Smartsheet to determine which software best suits your needs.

Review methodology

To review Smartsheet, we analyzed the software using several parameters, including featured 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 pros and cons of the software. To round out our Smartsheet review, we also looked at other expert reviews and customer ratings from reputable websites.