Everything you need to know about Smartsheet: Pros, cons, and alternatives
The past decade has seen remarkable progress in the modern workforce, leading to a constant quest for finding the right tool to manage work efficiently. With hundreds of work management tools flooding the market, it feels overwhelming to find the tool that brings order to the chaos.
Smartsheet is a tool that promises to help you streamline your workflow. This blog post will analyze its features, integrations, pricing, limitations, and popular alternatives.
Get StartedSmartsheet overview
Smartsheet is a project management tool that lets users plan, track, automate, and report on work. It has the look and feel of an Excel sheet, making it easy for spreadsheet users to adapt. They can track tasks, timelines, and budgets in a structured way, offering clarity and precision for managing complex projects.
Smartsheet also enables users to automate workflows, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks. It offers prebuilt templates for various use cases, from project tracking to event planning, giving teams a quick start.
Why is Smartsheet popular?
Smartsheet has everything that businesses need to manage complex, long-term projects. It helps teams visualize their work data using grid, Gantt, board, timeline, card, and calendar views. Cross-functional teams can update work items, share files, comment on deliverables, and manage resources. Smartsheet's recent update has AI tools to analyze data, generate formulas, and draft summaries based on your sheet data. This ensures teams are always aligned with their goals.
Third-party integrations
Smartsheet does not let you import data from existing work management tools. The only workaround is migrating your data to Excel, Google Sheets, or MS Project and then importing it to Smartsheet.
However, Smartsheet offers other integrations. Here’s the complete list.
Smartsheet disadvantages
Lack of tabs
Although Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet, it lacks one of its most prominent features: multiple tabs. Users are restricted to a single grid to store all their data. Teams that need to manage data about different aspects of their project in different tabs have to rely on other alternatives.
What I would like to see most from Smartsheet is the ability to add a new tab/page to my existing sheets. This would make tracking things a lot easier e.g. once a task has been completed, and I could move it to a different tab, so that I can still see what I've done without having to create a new sheet.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
Our organization loves Smartsheet. The only thing I would like to see one day is having multiple tabs within one sheet.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
Steep learning curve
Smartsheet's spreadsheet interface looks simple to navigate. However, people who are new to work management tools find the features hard to understand.
While the basic interface is user-friendly, there is a learning curve for mastering Smartsheet’s more advanced features like automation, complex reporting, and formulas. Users with no prior experience in project management tools may require time and training to fully leverage the platform’s capabilities.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
There are extensive features available, and it is a little hard to know how to adopt new features. I wish some of the automation was easier to understand, or there were simpler templates.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
Unresponsive mobile app
For users who want to work on the go, the mobile app has not fared well. Task management features that are found in the desktop version are not found in the app. This forces them to use the desktop version, which beats the purpose of having a mobile app.
The mobile app does not offer all the features of the desktop version, which adds limitations to working on the road, which may be slightly higher for small groups or organizations with limited resources.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
The mobile app could be a bit more responsive when filling out sheets. It works well, but I wish the UI was more efficient so we don't have to carry laptops around to use it.
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
Popular alternatives to Smartsheet
Zoho Tables
ClickUp
Monday.com
Airtable
Zoho Tables
Zoho Tables is a modern work management tool that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the power of a relational database. Unlike Smartsheet, which restricts users to a single sheet, Zoho Tables lets users organize their data in different tables and link them bidirectionally. This ensures data is structured into multiple tables and meaningful connections are established.
This structured data can be visualized in grid, Kanban, gallery, and calendar formats. You can use the form view to collect data from any source and feed it directly to the table. This prevents manual entries and eliminates the need to share a table with members outside your team.
Zoho Tables also creates a healthy collaborative workspace where teammates can update their work items, share files, comment on deliverables, set automation for repetitive tasks, and avoid switching between multiple apps to stay connected.
Zoho Tables's mobile app is a powerful companion to the web application. You can create new bases, set necessary automations, and build complete solutions directly from the mobile app. Mobile-specific features such as voice notes and the ability to scan a tabular image to convert them into a table make it a simple, yet effective, on-the-go work management app.
This is what the CEO of Covenance Group has to say about Zoho Tables.
Zoho Tables' intuitive interface and powerful integrations enable seamless task management, fostering collaboration. Tables is transforming our team's workflow each day.
ClickUp
While Smartsheet focuses on managing project timelines and high-level reporting, ClickUp is designed around flexibility. It focuses extensively on team collaboration. It has gamification to stimulate the competitive nature of teammates to boost productivity.
ClickUp has collaborative views like the Whiteboard for teams to brainstorm and create flow charts and Team view to see what others are working on. It also has a native chat application called ClickUp Chat that allows users to text other users in real time. ClickUp's email integration lets you view and compose emails without leaving the app. You can also create email automations to send responses to common inquiries.
Here's what a verified ClickUp user has to say on G2:
ClickUp allows me to do things that can't otherwise be done due to their complexity and breadth of team members involved. I use it to store, manage and plan every single area of my life and business and the beautiful UI delights me to do so!
Monday.com
Monday.com brings a visually engaging interface that prioritizes task management over data organization. While Smartsheet leans toward a more traditional project management style with spreadsheets and Gantt charts, Monday.com’s strength lies in its ease of use and highly customizable boards.
It also has safety features such as the Panic Button, which admins can activate if they suspect a data breach. It locks out all the users and admins to protect the data. It can be reactivated only through Monday.com's support team. Monday.com has native integrations with other work management tools to facilitate hassle-free data migration.
Here's what a Monday.com user has to say on G2:
Monday.com is very easy to learn the basics of. The boards are also highly customizable so you can accommodate specific workflows of your team easily. You can also visually tune things quite easily.
Airtable
While Smartsheet operates like a spreadsheet, Airtable takes a more flexible database approach. Airtable’s strength lies in its relational data capabilities, allowing users to link between multiple tables.
Both Smartsheet and Airtable offer similar data views like grid, timeline, Gantt, Kanban, and calendar. Additionally, Airtable has gallery and form views to visualize data. Airtable also plays the role of a low-code platform and lets you build custom applications.
Airtable is well-suited for bigger teams that need creative workflows, whereas Smartsheet excels in standardized project tasks.
Here is what an Airtable user has to say on G2:
I love Airtable! I love that I can easily create the applications I need to do my work faster and better. The GUI is clean and easy to navigate and the Excel-style formulas make setting up calculated fields a breeze.
Smartsheet pricing
Smartsheet does not have a free plan. It offers three tiers of pricing: Pro, Business, and Enterprise.
/user/month billed annually
/user/month billed annually
Users can get in touch with Smartsheet to purchase the Enterprise plan.
On the other hand, an alternative like Zoho Tables offers advanced features and automation but is priced at just
/user/month billed annually
Smartsheet support
Smartsheet offers online resources, web-based ticketing, and online communities for users on all the paid plans. Phone support, live chat, and training are only available as paid add-ons for the high-end plans.
"While Smartsheet is powerful, it did take some time to learn the full range of its features. I wish there were additional support options, such as the ability to tell the support team what I'm trying to accomplish and have them guide me on how to set it up."
- Verified Smartsheet User, G2
Does Smartsheet align with your goals?
Smartsheet is an enterprise project management software that is a great fit for complex projects that require detailed workflows, advanced reporting, and extensive features like asset management and branding.
If your requirements are not as complex, and you are looking for a more intuitive and cost-effective solution, you might find Zoho Tables more aligned with your needs. Zoho Tables offers enough flexibility, automation, and collaboration features without bloating the interface with unnecessary features.