Top 10 Smartsheet Alternatives to Streamline Workflows in 2024

Due to its advanced, spreadsheet-like capabilities, Smartsheet has become a go-to project management tool for many. If you’re an Excel power user, you'll feel right at home. 

While the familiar interface may seem easy to adapt to, Smartsheet has its own set of limitations that can leave you searching for more. The lack of a free plan, a minimum user cap, and a confusing UI can make Smartsheet less than ideal for everyone.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

We’ve researched and curated 10 fantastic Smartsheet alternatives to help you easily manage projects.

In this article, we’ll explore these alternatives in detail, helping you find the perfect fit for your business.

Before we dive into our top picks, let’s take a closer look at some of the most common Smartsheet’s drawbacks. ⤵️

Why You Might Look for Smartsheet Alternatives?

Smartsheet has some amazing features which make it an appealing choice for a project management tool. Some of the most notable ones are:

• Endless flexibility over workflows and automation allows users to build and adapt dashboards to their liking.
• Interactive spreadsheets that help with organizing cross-department data.
• Smoothly handles large amounts of data making it a compatible tool.

Despite such appealing features, Smartsheet fails to meet the project management needs of a smaller team that is looking for easy-to-use, flexible, and scalable management software.

Reason 1: Not enough basic functionalities

Smartsheet lacks basic features. For example, there is no built-in time tracking, no option to create workbooks, and no robust reporting. A lack of essential features can hamper the team’s ability to work smoothly.

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Reason 2: No option to autosave

The lack of an autosave feature in Smartsheet is one of its biggest limitations. You need to manually save and refresh data which can turn burdensome while managing multiple projects at a time.

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Reason 3: Pricing isn't suitable for SMBs

Smartsheet has set up its pricing in such a way that you need to upgrade to a higher plan to access features like activity logs and team workload tracking. Additionally, the business plan requires a minimum of 3 seats, shooting up the cost to $72 per month for 3 users.

Such a pricing structure makes it expensive for smaller team sizes.

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What are the best alternatives to Smartsheet?

Based on our research and user reviews, these are the best Smartsheet alternatives:

#1: SmartSuite

SmartSuite is the ultimate work and project management software. It combines the power of automation with a tailored workspace to help you plan, manage, and track projects.

Combining an intuitive UI, versatile dashboards, and powerful automation makes SmartSuite the top Smartsheet alternative.

Our customers love the following features:

1. Project management

SmartSuite's comprehensive project management dashboard gives you a thorough view of the creation, assignment, tracking, and completion of diverse tasks and projects. You get access to a range of tools to improve task efficiency and boost productivity.

• Organization and reporting: Team members get a consolidated view of all assigned tasks under ‘My work’ dashboard. Custom ‘Work In Progress’ report helps you track task responsibilities, balance workloads, and monitor timelines.
• Time tracking: Track time for different tasks, create and set estimates, and view customizable timesheets and reports. Ease of time logging in hour/minute increments or as a range of time gives you a transparent picture of billing hours.
• Powerful dashboards: Understand relationships, evaluate dependencies, and track metrics that measure the state of your business. Each dashboard is configurable with 25+ widgets ranging from graphs to comparison tables.

2. Workflow automation

SmartSuite built-in automation maintains consistency and efficiency across all your projects. You can set up customizable recipes based on specific triggers. Such automated workflows eliminate manual intervention in routine tasks such as changing dates or sending updates and free up your time to focus on getting work done.

And the best part?

SmartSuite offers a no-code drag-and-drop automation builder, making it easy for anyone in your team to build basic to complex automation.

To get started, click on “Automation.” From here, choose the right trigger and set up the right action. For instance, when a status is changed (trigger), send an email (action).

3. Team collaboration

SmartSuite provides a centralized communication hub, enabling real-time discussions and project status updates to keep teams aligned

Team members can connect 1:1 or in group chats, share quick updates via @mentions, send emails, and ask questions. Member’s directory, availability status, and activity progress promote transparent communication. As a result, you can reach out to the right stakeholders at the right time and monitor roadblocks.

SmartSuite goes way beyond with its mobile app, which facilitates seamless and quick communication.

SmartSuite Pricing

SmartSuite offers a 14-day free trial and a forever-free plan with access to automation, team collaboration, authentication, and much more.

As for the paid plans, there are four options:

• Team: Starts at $12/user per month, including Gantt charts, located views, 5000 automation runs, and time tracking.
• Professional: Starts at $28/user per month, including two-factor authentication, Gmail & Outlook integrations, and unlimited editors.
• Enterprise: Starts at $35/user per 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.

How Does SmartSuite Compare to Smartsheet?

While Smartsheets stands out among spreadsheet enthusiasts who want more flexibility in organizing and managing cross-team data, SmartSuite offers a compelling alternative with its affordable pricing structure, automated workflows, and flexible dashboards.

Here’s why SmartSuite would be a better choice over Smartsheet:

• Multi dashboard views: 8+ dashboard views, including Gantt charts, map view, kanban view, and timeline view, offering the flexibility to view projects in a way you want.
• No minimum user cap: Scale easily with per-user pricing and avoid the worry of paying for a minimum number of users for higher-tier plans.
• Smooth team collaboration: Have conversations privately or in groups and get real-time updates to keep the tasks moving forward.

SmartSuite Pros and Cons

✅ Generous free plan with access to advanced features

✅ 200+ project templates for different use cases

✅ Customizable dashboard and reporting

✅ No-code automation to streamline your workflows

❌ Limited native integrations

#2: Monday

Best for: Task and project management across various industries

Similar to: Asana and ClickUp

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

Monday.com is a better alternative to Smartsheet for medium-sized businesses, particularly for marketing and creative teams because of its features like whiteboard collaboration and built-in social media management.

Who Is It For?

Medium and large-scale businesses

Monday.com's Top Features

• Workdocs: Workdocs are flexible multi-media whiteboards that help you jot down key ideas and add widgets (boards, project links, videos) without leaving the workspace. These whiteboards are particularly useful for marketing and creative teams for idea generation and creative planning.
• Work forms: Customizable work forms to collect requests or feedback. Sync form responses and add them to relevant boards, enabling teams to track and manage form submissions efficiently within their existing workflow.
• Social media management: With built-in social channel integration, you can plan, manage, and schedule social media posts on different channels.

Monday.com Pricing

Monday.com offers a 14-day free trial and a free plan for up to 2 users. Their paid plans require a minimum team size of 3 and come in four tiers:

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

While Monday.com offers a free plan with limited features and a free trial for its three paid plans–basic, standard, and pro, Smartsheet only offers paid plans.

Monday.com Pros and Cons

✅ Advanced reporting and analysis

✅ Built-in social media management system

✅ 200+ dashboard templates

❌ Requires a minimum team size to buy or upgrade plan

❌ Automation available only on high-tier plans

#3: Airtable

Best for: Data collaboration and dashboard customization

Similar to: Smartsheet and Trello

Airtable is a collaborative project management tool that helps you store and organize vast amounts of data in a management database. Think of spreadsheets but with relational capabilities.

Airtable’s intuitive interface and cost-effective plans make it a compelling choice for small-sized businesses, solopreneurs, and agencies over Smartsheet.

Who Is It For?

Small and mid-sized businesses

Airtable’s Top Features

• Automated workflows: Create customizable trigger-action models to cut down on repetitive tasks.
• Multi-dashboard views: Structure your data to get a holistic view of your task’s progress with 7+ views. Monitor deadlines, manage the project’s resources, and get a granular view of the project’s health.
• Interface designer: Build custom interfaces through drag-and-drop editor for anyone on your team. These interfaces help you break down big databases into smaller sections to share specific elements with external users without giving them access to the actual dataset.

Airtable Pricing

Airtable’s free plan offers access to a single workspace with all basic dashboard views and 100 automations per month. The paid plans come in three tiers:

• Team: Starts at $24 per user/month, including timeline view, 25,000 automation per month, and Airtable AI.
• Business: Starts at $45 per user/month, including multi-source syncing and dynamic filtering.
• Enterprise scale: Includes admin reports, enterprise-level integrations, and premium support. Contact sales for a quote.

Smartsheet requires a minimum of 3 users to sign up for its business plan, while Airtable's pricing, despite being a little higher, doesn’t require minimum users.

Airtable Pros and Cons

✅ High-level customization and flexible dashboards

✅ User-friendly interface with multiple views even upon starting plans

✅ Vast project templates

❌ Limited reporting capabilities

❌ Limited team communication

#4: ClickUp

Best for: Creating highly customizable project dashboards

Similar to: Trello and Monday

ClickUp is a project management tool that acts as a central platform for resource management, work management, and team collaboration.

ClickUp is an amazing Smartsheet alternative for small teams, freelancers, and startups who want highly customizable dashboards at a reasonable price.

Who Is It For?

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small and large businesses alike

ClickUp’s Top Features

• Social media integration: Plan, organize, prioritize, and publish content directly to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
• ClickUp Chat: Keep your team moving through built-in chat views. Communicate in group chats or share updates privately in 1:1 conversations.
• Advanced task views: Brainstorm and plan projects visually with a mind map view and convert discussed ideas into action items.

ClickUp Pricing

ClickUp’s free plan offers unlimited task creation, and guest invites with full access only. They have three paid plans:

• Unlimited: Starts at $10 per user/month, offers unlimited custom views, timesheets, guest access, and 100 mind map creation.
• Business: Starts at $19 per user/month, offers private docs, sprint reporting, and all dashboard views.
• Enterprise: White labeling, top-notch security, and enterprise AI. Contact sales to get a quote.

Compared to Smartsheet, ClickUp’s plans are much more affordable. Its generous free plan offers features like automated triggers, limited Gantt chart views, and ClickUp emails.

ClickUp Pros and Cons

✅ Advanced features, even on low-tier plans

✅ Mind Maps and whiteboard view for team collaboration

✅ 100+ automation templates

❌ High-level customizations can be overwhelming

#5: Wrike

Best for: Managing complex workflows across multiple teams

Similar to: Teamwork and Jira

Wrike is a project management tool that helps you collaborate across teams, manage projects, brainstorm ideas, and achieve goals.

Wrike is a better alternative to Smartsheet due to its incomparable free plan that gives access to iOS and desktop apps, custom board views, and email integrations.

Who Is It For?

Agencies and enterprise-level businesses

Wrike’s Top Features

• Custom item types: Add and manage multiple custom items to customize each task, folder, and project according to your team’s preferences.
• Cross-tagging: Gain visibility in tasks, subtasks, folders, milestones, phases, and projects across various departments.
• Customizable request forms: Create forms to facilitate requests, eliminate delays, and convert form requests into action items.

Wrike Pricing

Wrike offers a generous forever-free plan. There are five paid plans with a 14-day free trial:

• Team: Start at $9.80 per user/month, includes custom workflows, 20 free collaborators, and unlimited request forms
• Business: Start at $24.80 per user/month, includes up to 200 users, Adobe Creative Cloud Extensions, and nested projects.
• Enterprise: Unlimited user access with advanced reporting and integrations. Contact sales to get a quote.
• Pinnacle: Native integration with PowerBi, locked spaces, and budgeting. Contact sales for a quote.

Wrike offers more pricing plans than SmartSuite, allowing users more flexibility. Pricing starts as low as $9.80 per user/month.

Wrike Pros and Cons

✅ 400+ integrations

✅ Generous free plan with unlimited users

✅ Library of customizable project templates

❌ Learning curve due to overwhelming features

❌ Budgeting feature only available for pinnacle plan users

#6: Asana

Best for: Managing projects through subtasks and automated workflows

Similar to: ClickUp and Trello

Asana is a work management tool that is known for its customizable workflows and automation to organize, plan, and track work through subtasks and dependencies features.

Asana’s ease of use, uncluttered UI, and generous free plan make it a much better project management tool than Smartsheet.

Who Is It For?

Creative agencies, small and medium-sized businesses.

Asana's Top Features

• Bundles: Package workflow elements such as rules, custom fields, and task templates and apply them instantly to new (and multiple) projects.
• Portfolios: Organize multiple projects in a centralized view and monitor project health in real-time, including status updates, progress rates, due dates, and project owners.
• Team collaboration: Share comments and mentions directly within tasks, assign tasks to multiple projects, add dependencies, and receive real-time updates.

Asana Pricing

Asana offers a free plan for up to 10 users and four pricing plans with a 30-day free trial. Pricing for paid plans is as follows:

• Starters: Starts at $13.49 per user/month, with up to 500 teammates collaboration, Asana AI, and workflow builder.
• Advanced: Starts at $30.49 per user/month, with 25,000 automation per month, scaled security, advanced reporting, and goal tracking
• Enterprise: Advanced integrations, unlimited seats, custom branding, and premium support. Contact sales for a quote.
• Enterprise+: Audit log API, HIPAA compliance, and data loss prevention integrations. Contact sales for a quote.

Asana's Advanced plan ($30.49 per user/month) is more affordable than Smartsheet's Business plan ($19/user/month) when considering the 3-user minimum for Smartsheet.

Asana Pros and Cons

✅ Subtasks and dependencies 

✅ Automated templates for repetitive use

✅ 270+ integrations

❌ Limited customizations

❌ Limited reporting

❌ Can get expensive for smaller teams

#7: Microsoft Project

Best for: Complex project management and enterprise-level projects

Similar to: Asana and Monday.com

Microsoft Project is a project management tool designed for large-scale projects. It offers advanced scheduling, resource management, and reporting capabilities.

Detailed project tracking and integration with other Microsoft products make it a suitable alternative to Smartsheet for enterprises.

Who Is It For?

Businesses and teams who already use Microsoft software at large scale, especially enterprise-level companies

Microsoft Project’s Top Features

• Resource management: Request and lock in resources and get an overview of resource usage through capacity heat maps. With resource analytics, get a complete view of resources used and make predictions to optimize the required resources.
• Portfolio management: Compare and analyze different portfolio models using visual charts and make cost and resource projections.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate detailed reports and dashboards for project tracking and performance analysis.

Microsoft Project Pricing

Microsoft’s project planner comes with a Microsoft 365 account without any additional cost with limited features. You get a 30-day free trial for two of its plans out of all three paid plans:

• Planner Plan 1: Starts at $10 per user/month, Gantt views, task dependencies, and integration with APIs.
• Project Plan 3: Starts at $30 per user/month, custom work week, task highlights and prioritization, and custom reporting dashboards.
• Project Plan 5: Starts at $55 per user/month, automation and resource management.

Microsoft Project’s free plan is generous and offers access to multiple features compared to Smartsheet, which only offers paid plans.

Microsoft Project Pros and Cons

✅ Detailed scheduling and task dependencies, ideal for complex projects.

✅ Robust resource allocation and management features.

✅ Easy to adapt to if you’re familiar with Microsoft tools

❌ Expensive, especially for teams with small sizes

#8: Teamwork

Best for: External client collaboration and management

Similar to: Wrike and Asana

Teamwork is a unified project management software designed specifically for client-facing businesses. It has built-in tools for project tracking, time tracking, and budget forecasting.

It’s a better alternative to Smartsheets for teams who work with multiple external clients and want features like invoice generation and time tracking for smooth client collaboration.

Who Is It For?

Client-service businesses of all types–marketing agencies, consulting firms, and creative agencies

Teamwork’s Top Features

• Resource management: Get an overview of your team’s day-to-day capacity and plan and allocate resources based on future forecasts
• Built-in time tracking: Track and manage your team’s completion time and bill your clients for accurate invoicing and budget management.
• Multiple built-in reporting dashboards: Time tracking reports, profitability reports, and project health reports enable you to get a 360-degree view of your projects.

Teamwork Pricing

Teamwork.com offers a 30-day free trial and a forever free plan for up to 5 users. Their paid plan is based on per-user pricing and includes the following:

• Deliver: $13.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 3 users, time tracking, client company management, and 4 project views (List, Table, Boards, and Gantt chart).
• Grow: $25.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 5 users, resource scheduling, If/then conditional logic for forms, and a custom domain with SSL.
• Scale: $65.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 5 users, unlimited retainer management, projects, and customer reports.
• Enterprise: Dedicated Customer Success Manager and advanced security. Contact sales for a quote.

Teamwork Pros and Cons

✅ Customizable workflows and templates

✅ Built-in messaging, time tracking, invoicing, and budgeting feature

✅ Invite and collaborate with external users (vendors or contractors)

❌ Abundance of features and options can be overwhelming

❌ Limited native integration with heavy reliance on Zapier

#9: Jira

Best for: DevOps issue tracking and supporting IT workflows

Similar to: Monday.com

Jira is a robust project management software, part of Atlassian’s product suite, made primarily for software development teams.

Jira’s software dev use cases with features like shared release dates, while Smartsheet is suited for teams with different use cases.

Who Is It For?

Software development and IT teams.

Jira’s Top Features

• Roadmaps: Get a high-level overview of planned sprints with individual tasks (epics in Jira) to monitor sprints' progress and identify any roadblocks.
• Advanced reporting dashboard: Get contextual insights through burndown charts, velocity charts, cumulative flow diagrams, resolution time reports, and sprint reports.
• Bug and issue tracking: Built-in robust bug and issue tracking capabilities allow you to report, track, and manage bugs and issues throughout the development lifecycle.

Jira Pricing

Jira offers both a free plan and a 7-day free trial for three paid plans. The paid plans are based on a maximum user cap. For up to 100 users, access pricing is as follows:

• Standard: Starts at $8.15 per user/month, including audit logs, unlimited customizable workflows, and project templates.
• Premium: Start at $16 per user/month, including unlimited storage and cross-project management.
• Enterprise: Unlimited automation, Atlassian Analytics, Atlassian intelligence (AI). Contact sales for a quote.

Jira offers a more affordable entry-level pricing plan than Smartsheet with much advanced features suitable for technical teams.

Jira Pros and Cons

✅ Easy to configure dashboards

✅ 1000+ third-party integration via the Atlassian marketplace 

❌ Limited team collaboration options

❌ Out-dated and non-intuitive user interface

#10: Rows

Best for: Data analysis and visualization with advanced data integrations

Similar to: Asana and Airtable

Rows is an advanced version of Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets that helps you analyze and visualize vast amounts of data at lightning speed.

Rows is a good alternative to Smartsheet if your main focus is to collect, organize, and present data in an intuitive and appealing spreadsheet format.

Who Is It For?

Small to medium-sized businesses, freelancers, or agencies who deal with various data sources.

Rows's Top Features

• Built-in AI: Rows AI helps you generate text for visual graphs, answer questions related to data analysis, and do advanced calculations through proprietary functions. Rows integrate with OpenAI, giving you access to 14 pre-defined functions, such as SENTIMENT_ANALYSIS_OPENAI or cleanup data using APPLY_TASK_OPENAI.
• API Integrations: Rows excels in connecting to various APIs directly from spreadsheets, making it easy to share data across various spreadsheets and tools.

Rows Pricing

Rows offer a generous free plan with unlimited members onboarding and up to 10 guests. They have three paid plans:

• Plus: $20 per user/month, including unlimited spreadsheets and 30 days of version history.
• Pro: $30 per user/month, including custom branding, 100 guest invites (view-only access), and 2 years of version history access.
• Enterprise: Dedicated CS Manager, Custom API endpoints, and custom integrations. Contact sales for a quote.

Compared to Smartsheet, Rows offers basic data analysis functionalities at a reasonable price best suited for teams with low budgets.

Rows Pros and Cons

✅ Intuitive interface

✅ Interactive widgets such as buttons, input fields, and data pickers

❌ No desktop app

❌ Limited team collaboration

Manage your projects smoothly with SmartSuite

Closely monitor your team’s need to pick the right project management tool.

If you need advanced collaboration with external users and built-in tools like invoicing and time tracking, consider trying Wrike or Teamwork.

For a user-friendly interface and highly customizable workflows, Asana or ClickUp would be perfect. But, if you work on complex projects and are willing to allocate huge budgets, Microsoft Project is the right choice.

But if you want a combination of cost-effective pricing, an intuitive interface, smooth collaboration, and powerful automation to drive your projects forward, SmartSuite is the ideal choice.

With SmartSuite, you get the perfect blend of efficiency and adaptability to meet all your project management needs. Try it and experience how it transforms your work.