Smartsheet

Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet but works like a project tool. Each sheet holds rows of tasks or items with owners, dates and statuses, and the same data can be shown as a Gantt chart, board, calendar or dashboard. Forms feed new rows in, automations send reminders and approvals, and reports roll up many sheets. Its AI writes formulas from a plain-English request, summarises and analyses sheet data, fills columns, and builds dashboards for you.

Pick Smartsheet when your team already runs work out of Excel and wants something more structured without changing how it thinks. It is strong in construction, operations, PMOs and other places with lots of dates, dependencies and reporting up the chain. Asana and ClickUp are friendlier for everyday task tracking; Airtable is better for building custom databases and apps.

The catch: there is no free plan, and long-time customers have complained loudly about recent pricing changes. Large sheets can get slow, and the interface feels dated next to newer tools. It takes time to set up well.

• Project managers
• Operations teams
• PMOs
• Construction firms
• IT teams

Operations, PMO and project teams who think in spreadsheets and need Gantt charts, reports and approvals.

• Grid, Gantt, board and calendar

  The same rows show as a spreadsheet, a Gantt chart with dependencies, a card board or a calendar.

• AI formulas and analysis

  Describe what you want in plain English and it writes the formula, or ask questions about your sheet data.

• AI dashboards and summaries

  Builds a dashboard from your sheets and summarises status for managers.

• Forms and automations

  Collect requests through forms and set up reminders, approvals and alerts without code.

• Reports across sheets

  Roll up many projects into one view for portfolio and PMO reporting.

• Connections to other AI tools

  Business plans can connect Smartsheet to outside AI assistants through MCP, plus a full API.

• Pro

  $9/member/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly)

  Individuals and small teams of up to 10.

  • Unlimited sheets and viewers
  • Gantt, board and calendar views
  • AI formulas, summaries and dashboards
• Our pick

  Business

  $19/member/mo billed yearly ($24 monthly)

  Teams running several projects together.

  • 3-member minimum
  • Reports, workload and approvals
  • MCP connections to outside AI tools

• Enterprise

  Custom

  Larger organisations needing admin and security controls.

  • 10-member minimum
  • SSO and advanced admin
  • Enterprise support

• Advanced Work Management

  Custom

  PMOs managing large portfolios.

  • Everything in Enterprise
  • Portfolio and resource management add-ons

Prices in USD unless noted, checked 22 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Ways Smartsheet can slot into your week.

1. 1

   Move a project off Excel

   Import your Excel tracker, add owners and dependencies, and switch to a Gantt chart that updates itself.

2. 2

   Weekly status for leadership

   Ask the AI to summarise status across projects and build a dashboard leadership can check any time.

3. 3

   Intake and approval flow

   Collect requests through a form and route them through approvals automatically.

4. 4

   Formula help

   Ask for a formula in plain English, like days overdue by owner, instead of searching forums.

Smartsheet sits beside Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, connecting to Excel, Teams, Outlook, Slack and Jira. Many teams use it as the reporting layer over work done elsewhere.

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