Your team is growing. Projects are getting more complex. And somewhere between your fifteenth Excel sheet and the umpteenth “which version is the latest?” question, you realize: there has to be a better way. Smartsheet promises the solution: the familiarity of a spreadsheet, but with superpowers. I’ve used the platform extensively for various projects and can tell you exactly where it shines and where you’ll run into challenges.
Smartsheet: the company
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 by Brent Frei, who had previously had a successful exit with Onyx Software. The idea? He saw that teams everywhere were using spreadsheets for project management, but that Excel was never actually designed for that. Too many versions, no real collaboration, no overview.
So he built a platform that retains the spreadsheet structure – because people are simply used to it – but with project management DNA. Think: automation, Gantt charts, dashboards, workflows. The company grew into a publicly traded company with thousands of enterprise customers.
What sets Smartsheet apart? They explicitly focus on larger organizations running complex projects. No playful interface with confetti animations, but a serious workhorse for teams that need structure and control. And you notice that in everything.
Who is Smartsheet really for?
Smartsheet is built for people who can operate Excel in their sleep. Project managers juggling dozens of stakeholders. Operations teams looking to automate processes. Enterprise organizations that take security and compliance seriously.
Specifically: if you’re the one building complex Excel sheets for your team with formulas, VLOOKUPs, and conditional formatting, then Smartsheet feels like coming home. But with real-time collaboration and automation that saves you hours per week.
Who is it not for? Small teams looking for something simple to divide tasks. Creative agencies that mainly want to work visually. Startups on a tight budget expecting a modern, intuitive interface. Then you probably won’t be happy with Smartsheet.
And honestly? If your team has never worked with spreadsheets, the learning curve is pretty steep. Then there are friendlier options.
Smartsheet features
Let’s take a look at what exactly you get when you choose Smartsheet:
- Grid View (Spreadsheet view) – This is the foundation. It looks like Excel, works like Excel, but on steroids. You can use formulas, color cells, customize columns. The big difference? Multiple people can work simultaneously without version conflicts. Every change is automatically saved and synchronized.
- Gantt charts – Click one button and your spreadsheet becomes a timeline. Dependencies between tasks? You just drag them with your mouse. A task runs over? The rest of your schedule automatically shifts. For project managers who want to plan visually, this is worth its weight in gold.
- Card View (Kanban) – The same data, but as cards on a board. Perfect for teams used to Trello or Jira. You drag tasks from “To Do” to “Done” and the underlying sheet is automatically updated. Handy if you have different work styles in one team.
- Automation & Workflows – This is where Smartsheet really starts to shine. New row added? Automatically send a notification. Deadline approaching? Trigger a reminder. Status changes to “Complete”? Move the task to another sheet. You build this with a visual workflow builder, no code needed.
- Dashboards – Collect data from multiple sheets and create overviews. Charts, gauges, reports – all updated in real-time. Ideal for management that wants to quickly see how projects are doing without having to scroll through sheets.
- Forms – Want people to enter data without messing up your sheet? Create a form. Each submission automatically becomes a new row. Useful for intakes, requests, feedback – you name it.
- Reports – Pull data from different sheets together based on filters. For example: all tasks due this week, regardless of which project they’re in. Or all issues with status “Urgent”. You don’t update these reports manually – they stay current automatically.
- Proofing – Need to review designs or documents? Upload them, let people place feedback on specific spots, and keep track of all versions and comments. No more endless email threads with “see my changes in red”.
The automation deserves some extra attention. You can build really complex workflows: if column X has this value AND column Y is older than 5 days, then send a notification to person Z and change the status. Or: automatically copy rows to another sheet if they meet certain criteria. For repetitive tasks, this really saves hours per week.
Also handy: the formulas work largely the same as in Excel. SUMIF, COUNTIF, VLOOKUP – it all works. So that knowledge you already have? You can apply it directly.
Smartsheet pricing
Here’s where it gets interesting. Smartsheet discontinued the free plan in 2025. You now only have a 30-day trial period to test. After that, you have to pay.
The Pro plan costs $ 12 per month with monthly payment, or $ 9 per month if you pay a year in advance (then you pay $ 108 all at once). That sounds reasonable, but watch out: you’re limited to 10 users. For small teams that can work, but as soon as you grow it becomes tight.
The Business plan is $ 24 per month (or $ 19 per month with annual billing, so $ 228 per year). This gets you unlimited editors, more advanced automation, and a document builder. This is actually the plan you need if you want to use Smartsheet seriously.
And then come the add-ons. Resource Management? Extra. Brandfolder for asset management? Extra. Dynamic View for external stakeholders? Also extra. Those costs add up quickly. For a fully equipped enterprise setup, you’ll easily pay a multiple of the base price.
Is it worth it? If you have a team that works a lot with data and runs complex projects, probably yes. The time saved through automation pays for itself. But for simple task management? Then you’re paying too much. Look at cheaper alternatives like ClickUp or Asana.
What should you watch out for?
Let’s be honest about the frustrations. First: that learning curve. Smartsheet is powerful, but not intuitive. Your first week you’re regularly googling how things work. For new team members, this means a considerable onboarding time. Don’t forget to schedule hours for that.
The mobile app is disappointingly slow. On your laptop everything works fine, but on your phone you really just want to quickly check something or update a status. Then that loading time is frustrating. And a lot of functionality is simply not available on mobile – you’re really dependent on your desktop.
Then that pricing structure. The basic plans are still manageable, but as soon as you need essential add-ons, it quickly becomes expensive. Resource Management is actually indispensable for real project planning, but costs extra. That feels like buying a car without a steering wheel and then having to order it separately.
Also annoying: Smartsheet doesn’t have automatic save like Google Sheets. Okay, changes are synced, but if you accidentally delete a row, it’s really gone. The version history helps, but you do need to know it exists and how to use it.
The interface looks dated. Functional? Absolutely. But if you’re used to modern tools with a sleek UI, Smartsheet feels like a return to 2010. Not a dealbreaker, but it doesn’t make working with it any more enjoyable.
And in terms of integrations? The offering is reasonable, but not overwhelming. The big players like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce are there, but don’t expect a library of hundreds of native connections like with Zapier or Make. For specific integrations, you often have to work through APIs or third-party tools.
What do others think?
The general consensus? Smartsheet is a workhorse for people who like structure. Teams coming from Excel are often enthusiastic about the possibilities. Especially the automation and reporting are praised – it really saves time.
The security and enterprise features also receive a lot of praise. For larger organizations that have compliance requirements, Smartsheet is a reliable choice. Permissions can be set granularly, audit logs are present, and data storage meets the most important certifications.
But that criticism about costs keeps coming back. Users find it frustrating that essential functionality is behind expensive add-ons. “You pay for a project management tool, but resource management is extra?” – you see those kinds of comments often.
The mobile experience is a frequently heard complaint. Nowadays you simply expect a tool to work well on your phone. Smartsheet falls behind in that regard. For people who are on the go a lot, that’s a problem.
Interesting: reviewers coming from Excel are generally more positive than people who are used to modern project management tools. Your background really determines how you experience Smartsheet. Do you know formulas and are you used to structured data? Then you’ll feel at home. Coming from Notion or Monday.com? Then it feels clunky and outdated.
Smartsheet alternatives
Doesn’t this quite fit what you’re looking for? Then take a look at these options:
- Monday.com – Has a much more modern, colorful interface and is more visually oriented. Choose this if you want a tool that feels more fun to work with and you don’t necessarily need that strict spreadsheet structure. The learning curve is also much flatter.
- Asana – Focuses more on task management and team collaboration than on data management. Choose this if you mainly want to delegate tasks and communication is important, rather than building complex workflows and reports.
- ClickUp – Offers a huge amount of functionality for a lower price, including docs, tasks and chat in one platform. Choose this if your budget is limited and you’re looking for one central tool for all your work processes. Be aware though: that amount of options can also be overwhelming.
Frequently asked questions
Is there still a free Smartsheet plan?
No, the free plan was discontinued in early 2025. You can now only try it free for 30 days before you have to pay. That’s unfortunate, because it made the barrier to getting started much lower. Now you have to invest from day one or limit yourself to that trial period.
What is the difference between the Pro and Business plan?
The big difference is in the number of users and advanced features. Pro is limited to 10 editors – that quickly becomes too few as your team grows. Business has unlimited editors, plus better automation, a document builder, and integration with Brandfolder for asset management. If you want to use Smartsheet seriously, you really need Business.
Can I import my existing Excel sheets?
Yes, and that works surprisingly well. You can import Excel files, Google Sheets, and even MS Project files directly. Most formulas and formatting are preserved. Of course, you’ll need to check afterwards to make sure everything transferred correctly, but it saves you hours of manual retyping. A real time-saver if you have a lot of existing sheets.
Conclusion
Smartsheet is not a tool for everyone. It’s built for people who don’t shy away from complexity and value structure over a pretty interface. If you or your team is used to Excel and you’re looking for a way to add real collaboration and automation to it, then Smartsheet is a logical step.
The power lies in the flexibility. You can shape it to your own processes, build workflows that do exactly what you need, and create reports that answer your specific questions. That’s valuable.
But that power has a price – literally and figuratively. Costs add up as soon as you need add-ons. The learning curve is steep. And the mobile experience is just not good enough for this day and age.
My advice? Really use that 30-day trial. Build a few sheets, test the automation, try the different views. And involve your team – they’re the ones who ultimately have to work with it. If after two weeks you’re still enthusiastic and you see clearly how it saves you time, then it’s worth the investment.
But if after a week you think “this feels too complex for what we need”, that’s fine too. There are friendlier, more modern alternatives that might suit you better. Smartsheet is powerful, but not the right choice for everyone. And that’s okay.
