Drowning in spreadsheets? Losing track of tasks across multiple platforms? 

You're not alone.

Choosing the right project management tool can mean the difference between seamless collaboration and daily chaos.

We'll break down their features, pricing, and use cases and help you make an informed decision for your team.

TL;DR

• Monday.com: Best for creative teams and marketing agencies who need visual project tracking and simple workflow automation. Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with diverse project types.
• Jira: Perfect for software development teams who live and breathe Agile methodology. Suited for technical teams who need robust issue tracking and sprint planning.
• SmartSuite: The clear winner for versatility and value. Ideal for businesses of all sizes who need an all-in-one solution that combines project management, workflow automation, and collaborative workspaces. Offers the most comprehensive feature set with better pricing than competitors.

Monday.com vs. Jira vs. SmartSuite – Features

SmartSuite Features

SmartSuite is a comprehensive project management tool that lets you manage all your projects on a centralized platform with built-in automation and a communication center.

Comprehensive project management

SmartSuite’s project management feature helps you plan, track, and manage simple to complex projects.

To simplify the process, you get numerous built-in intuitive features to execute your tasks perfectly.

Here’s what we have in store for you.

• Smart task management: You can turn any item field into a task—a checklist item, comments, or sub-item. With this flexibility, you can easily build a solid task list and assign it to the right person with a due date and priority status.

• Project phases and milestones: Having milestones ensures your project stays on track and moves towards the objective. With SmartSuite, you can set them, monitor through your reporting dashboard, and flag issues.

• Files and project deliverables: With SmartSuite, you can manage and organize all your documents. Attach project-related files, share feedback with your team, and manage version history, all within your work context.

SmartSuite supports formats like PDF, GIF, CSV, PNG, and MP4. The tool also integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and Microsoft OneDrive, making adding files to your workflows easy.

Also, you can add images directly in SmartSuite by connecting your social media and Unsplash accounts.

• Native time tracking: Monitor and evaluate task and project completion times. Built-in tracking helps group time entries see estimates, and segment billable and non-billable entries.

Team collaboration

SmartSuite outperforms Monday.com with its built-in communication and collaboration features. 

You can connect with peers in group chats or 1:1 conversations for quick feedback and keep stakeholders updated.

SmartSuite’s members’ directory provides a deep dive into each teammate’s details, such as availability status, job profile, and other relevant information, to give a holistic view of the project team.

Like the other two tools, you can use comments and @mentions to share updates, nudge teammates, or add new people to the conversation.

Comprehensive project reporting

SmartSuite offers a dynamic project analytics tool with configurable charts and graphs.

The reporting dashboard helps you track project performance, understand resource allocation, and identify slow-moving projects. 

Based on these insights, you can quickly develop plans to overcome roadblocks and get the project back on track.

You can visualize reporting in Grid, Card, Kanban, Timeline, Map, Calendar, or Dashboard views. Add as many as needed to build a visual storyboard for your project’s progress.

To share reports with stakeholders or clients, you can make the report public and share the necessary access. 

SmartSuite also supports printing or exporting PDF, Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV format.

Advanced workflow automation

SmartSuite's no-code automation builder is one of the most intuitive, giving a neck-to-neck competition in automation.

You can assemble automation at the task and project and automate repetitive tasks based on triggers like changing dates, sending notification emails, or updating statuses. 

There are six pre-defined triggers and 15+ actions, with options to build custom ones.

SmartSuite is the right choice if you:

✅ Need a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop customization.

✅ Need a platform that can adapt to various business processes.

✅ Want to centralize team communication and collaboration.

✅ Want affordable and feature-packed software.

SmartSuite isn’t the best option if you:

❌ Need extensive third-party integrations, as SmartSuite offers fewer options than Jira and Monday.com.

Monday.com Features

Monday.com is a robust project management software that helps you track, manage, plan, and organize multiple projects.

Dashboards with custom widgets

With Monday.com, you can build custom dashboards by fetching data from all your projects for a holistic view of progress. 

It offers 80+ widgets through integrations with apps like videos, calendars, clocks, and images, allowing flexibility in building project dashboards.

27+ task views

Monday.com offers over 27 task views to visualize task progress throughout the project lifecycle, including charts, Gantt charts, Calendars, Workloads, Timelines, Kanban boards, Tables, Forms, Cards, Files, and Blank views.

Such a wide range of task views offers flexibility and control over the project dashboard and caters to the team's different working styles.

Workflow automation

Monday.com offers triggers, conditions, and actions to build linear to multi-step sequences. 

With these automated workflows, you can eliminate repetitive tasks like status updates, delete processes, or schedule calls.

Monday is the right choice if you:

✅ Need robust automation features.

✅ Need real-time data visualization and reporting.

✅ Want a tool with solid integrations.

✅ Use Monday.com’s CRM or dev tools.

Monday isn’t the best option if you:

❌ Are a small team with a limited budget, as pricing scales up quickly due to the group-based structure.

❌ Need advanced time-tracking features, which are only available on higher-tier plans.

❌ Need advanced native team communication features.

Jira Features

Advanced reporting and analytics

Jira comes with advanced reporting and analytics features offering various reports, such as burndown charts, velocity charts, and sprint reports.

Such reports give real-time visibility into project status, helping you spot bottlenecks, track key metrics, and make data-driven decisions.

Issue tracking

Jira is a developer-focused project management tool with an advanced issue-tracking system. 

You can customize issues by adding columns, attachments, and comments, keeping all tasks or problems centralized.

It also supports hierarchical issue structures, breaking down complex projects into epics, stories, and subtasks.

Team collaboration

Jira supports real-time communication within the context of projects and tasks through comments, mentions, and real-time notifications.

It also helps you maintain cross-team visibility. The tool helps managers track progress and share the progress with teams across departments.

Jira is the ideal choice if you:

✅ Need a highly customizable project management tool for agile and scrum methodologies.

✅ Require issue-tracking capabilities for complex projects with multiple layers of tasks and subtasks.

✅ Want advanced reporting and analytics features.

✅ Already use any of Atlassian’s products.

Jira isn't the best option if you:

❌ Are looking for a simple, out-of-the-box solution with a minimal learning curve.

❌ Need built-in resource management capabilities.

❌ Require integrated portfolio management tools to manage multiple projects.

❌ Are a small team consisting of non-technical users.

Integrations: Monday vs. Jira vs. SmartSuite

SmartSuite Integrations

SmartSuite integrates with major platforms, from communication to social media. 

It offers five connectors, including Zapier, Ply, Integrately, Relay, and Make, to connect with 1000s of apps to transfer data.

Some of the notable integrations are:

• Salesforce.
• Slack.
• Twilio.
• Jira Cloud.
• HubSpot.
• Intercom.

Monday.com Integrations

Monday.com offers 200+ integrations and apps across various categories. 

It provides native integrations with popular tools like Slack, Gmail, Microsoft Teams, and GitLab.

It excels in two-way synchronization with some integrations, enhancing data flow across apps, and has an open API for custom integrations.

Some standout Monday.com integrations are:

• QuickBooks.
• Google Workspace.
• Zendesk.
• PandaDoc.
• Jira.
• Freshdesk.

Jira Integrations

Jire offers over 8,000 through the Atlassian marketplace, giving users access to expand the tool's functionality. 

It integrates with collaboration tools like Slack and Confluence, development tools like GitHub and Bitbucket, and test management integrations like Zephyr and Micro Focus ALM.

Other notable integrations include:

• HubSpot.
• Bamboo.
• Figma.
• Zoom.
• Google and Microsoft Workspace.

Winner: Jira

Jira offers 8000+ integrations through the Atlassian marketplace, surpassing both Monday.com and SmartSuite in terms of the quantity and quality of the available integrations.

Pricing: Monday vs. Jira vs. SmartSuite

SmartSuite Pricing

SmartSuite offers a forever-free plan, which is among the most generous. 

The free plan gives you 100 automated triggers, team collaboration tools, 7+ task views (dashboard, table, boards, cards, list, calendar, and grid), time tracking, and more.

We offer four paid plans, each with a 14-day free trial.

• Team: Starts at $10/user/month, including 8+ dashboard views, 5000 automation runs, time tracking, and collaborative SmartDocs.
• Professional: Starts at $25/user/month, including two-factor authentication, Gmail & Outlook integrations, and unlimited editors.
• Enterprise: Starts at $35 per user/month, including audit logs, data loss prevention, and 50,000 API calls monthly.
• Signature: Customized plan tailored to your organization’s needs and team size.

Monday Pricing

Monday.com offers a free plan for up to 2 users, including shareable forms, 500MB storage, a 1-week activity history, and one board per dashboard.

Monday.com pricing plans have four tiers and require a minimum of 3 user seats:

• Basic: Starts at $17/user/month, including Kanban view, unlimited free viewers, and unlimited boards.
• Standard: Starts at $20/user/month, including 250 automated actions/month, 3+ dashboard views, and Zoom integration.
• Pro: Starts at $32/user/month, including all five dashboard views, time tracking, and 2-factor authentication.
• Enterprise: Includes dedicated customer success manager, cross-project analytics, and resource allocation insights. Contact sales for a quote.

Jira Pricing

Jira offers a free plan and a 7-day free trial with limited features. Jira offers three paid plans for which the cost decreases as the number of users increases.

• Standard: Starts at $8.60 per user/month for up to 100 users with 1,700 automation rules/month.
• Premium: Start at $17 per user/month for up to 100 users, including cross-project management features.
• Enterprise: Custom plan with unlimited automation and Atlassian intelligence (AI). Contact sales for a quote.

Winner: SmartSuite

SmartSuite is the best contender due to its generous free plan and lower entry point for paid plans. Additionally, the price-to-feature ratio is well distributed across tiers compared to the other two tools.

Lastly, it offers flexible per-user pricing, not locking you in unused seats, unlike Monday.com and Jira. But Jira and Monday.com’s group-based pricing might reduce the average cost for many users.

What Are Users Saying about Monday.com, Jira, and SmartSuite?

SmartSuite Reviews

G2 rating: 4.8/5

What users love:

• Intuitive interface and quick setup.
• Built-in communication features.
• Flexible customization options.
• Value for money compared to competitors.

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Common complaints:

• Limited integration options compared to established competitors.
• Some advanced features are still in development.
• Newer platform with a smaller user community.
• Occasional performance issues with larger datasets.

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Monday.com Reviews

G2 rating: 4.7/5

What users love:

• A highly visual interface with multiple view options.
• Extensive customization capabilities.
• Strong automation features.
• Large template library.

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Common complaints:

• A steep learning curve for new users.
• Group-based pricing can be expensive for small teams.
• Interfaces sometimes feel cluttered and overwhelming due to loads of features.
• Mobile app performance issues reported.

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Jira Reviews

G2 rating: 4.3/5

What users love:

• Huge library of integrations.
• Ease of team collaboration and communication.
• Flexible and customizable solution.

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Common complaints:

• Steep learning curve for non-technical users.
• Increased cost due to paid plugins.
• Non-intuitive dashboards.

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Each platform has great pros and cons. The best choice depends on your needs and budget:

• SmartSuite users value its all-in-one comprehensive solution that offers money for their bucks.
• Jira users recommend it for ease of team communication and flexible dashboards.
• Monday.com users appreciate the visual customization and automation capabilities.

Pick the Right Tool: Monday.com, Jira, or SmartSuite?

So, which project management wins?

• Monday.com ▶️ Visual-first platform with intuitive workflows and great for non-technical teams.
• Jira ▶️ Unmatched for software development teams committed to Agile methodologies.
• SmartSuite ▶️ The most comprehensive solution with the best value-to-feature ratio in the market.

While each platform shines in its own right, your choice ultimately depends on your needs.

Monday.com and Jira excel in their specialized domains – Monday.com for visual project management and Jira for software development workflows.

However, SmartSuite is the clear winner for organizations seeking a versatile, all-in-one solution. 

Our platform combines the visual appeal of Monday.com with powerful customization capabilities that surpass both competitors while maintaining a more attractive price point.

Ready to transform your project management experience? Start your free SmartSuite trial today and discover why teams switch from traditional tools to this innovative platform.

Or schedule a demo with SmartSuite's team to see how it can be tailored to your needs.

And, you can start exploring SmartSuite with its free plan or dive deeper by scheduling a demo or signing up for a free trial today!