Smartsheet Review 2026: The Excel Alternative

Key Features to Watch

Smartsheet bridges the gap between simple list-making and heavy-duty Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Key highlights include:

• Grid, Gantt, and Card Views: Switch between data formats instantly.
• Bridge: Advanced cross-platform workflow automation.
• Dynamic View: Share specific data with stakeholders without giving them sheet access.

By Syed Mujeeb Ur Rehman, PMP · Updated October 2026

What is Smartsheet?

Smartsheet was founded in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, as an online alternative to emailing spreadsheets back and forth. Its core is the sheet: a grid of rows and columns where each row can be a task with an owner, dates, status and dependencies. From the same data you can switch to a Gantt view for scheduling, a card view for Kanban-style boards or a calendar view for dates.

Around the sheet sit the features that make it a project tool: automated workflows that send alerts or request approvals, forms that feed new rows into a sheet, reports that pull rows from many sheets, and dashboards that summarise progress for sponsors. Larger organisations use portfolio features to roll up dozens of projects into 1 view.

How does Smartsheet compare with Excel and Microsoft Project?

Who is Smartsheet best for?

• Project and PMO teams that currently run projects in Excel and want collaboration, automation and reporting without learning a completely new interface
• Organisations running 10 or more projects that need portfolio dashboards for leadership
• Operations and marketing teams that manage intake through forms and approvals
• Construction, engineering and professional services firms that track many line items with dates, owners and costs

It is less suited to small creative teams that want highly visual boards, and to software teams that need sprint planning, backlogs and developer integrations, where tools like Jira are a better fit.

How do you set up a project in Smartsheet?

1. Start from a project template with columns for task, owner, start, finish, duration, predecessors and status.
2. Enter your work breakdown structure as rows, indenting child tasks under their parent deliverables.
3. Add predecessors to create dependencies, then switch to the Gantt view to check the schedule and critical path.
4. Share the sheet with your team and set permissions so each person can update their own tasks.
5. Create automated workflows, for example a reminder 2 days before a task is due and an alert when status changes to blocked.
6. Build a dashboard with progress, key milestones and open risks for your sponsor.

What are Smartsheet’s limitations?

The spreadsheet look is both a strength and a weakness. Teams new to project tools find it familiar, but the most powerful features, such as cross-sheet formulas, reports and portfolio roll-ups, take time to learn, and poorly designed sheets can become as messy as the spreadsheets they replaced.

Costs can also climb. Advanced capabilities such as premium add-ons and enterprise features sit on higher plans, so model the total cost for your team size before committing. As of 2026 Smartsheet’s plans include Pro, Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management; check the Smartsheet pricing page for current prices and limits.

How much does Smartsheet cost?

Smartsheet charges per user per month, with discounts for annual billing on most plans. Pro suits individuals and small teams, Business adds features most project teams need, and Enterprise and Advanced Work Management add security, governance and portfolio capabilities for larger organisations. Prices change regularly, so always confirm on the official pricing page and ask about trials before you buy.

Smartsheet: common questions

Is Smartsheet just a spreadsheet?

No. It looks like one, but it adds Gantt charts, dependencies, automation, forms, reports and dashboards that make it a full work management tool.

Is Smartsheet good for project management?

Yes, especially for teams moving from Excel who need scheduling, collaboration and reporting across several projects.

Does Smartsheet have a free plan?

Smartsheet does not offer a free-forever plan for teams; check its website for current trial options.

Is Smartsheet better than Microsoft Project?

For collaboration and ease of use, many teams prefer Smartsheet. For very detailed scheduling and resource levelling, Microsoft Project remains stronger.

Compare it with other tools in our software reviews, or read our guides to Microsoft Project alternatives and free project management tools.

Which Smartsheet features matter most for project managers?

Views. Grid, Gantt, card and calendar views all show the same data, so a planner can work in the Gantt view while a team member updates status in the grid or on a board. Changes appear for everyone in real time.

Automation. Workflows can send reminders, request approvals, move rows between sheets and update fields when conditions are met, for example alerting the project manager when a task’s status changes to at risk. This replaces many of the manual chasers project managers send each week.

Forms. Forms let stakeholders submit requests, issues or change requests straight into a sheet, which gives you a clean intake process and an audit trail.

Reports and dashboards. Reports pull rows from many sheets, such as all overdue tasks across 15 projects, and dashboards turn them into charts and summaries for sponsors. This is where Smartsheet pulls ahead of spreadsheets for portfolio reporting.

Integrations. Smartsheet connects with common workplace tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace, Jira and Salesforce, so updates can flow between systems rather than being retyped.

Tips for getting the most out of Smartsheet

• Design 1 standard project template and reuse it, so reports and dashboards work across every project
• Keep sheets lean: 10 to 15 well-chosen columns are easier to maintain than 40
• Use automation for routine reminders, but review rules every few months so they do not become noise
• Give stakeholders dashboards rather than sheet access, so they see what they need without editing anything
• Train the team for 1 or 2 hours at the start; most frustration comes from people guessing how features work

If Smartsheet is not the right fit, popular alternatives include Microsoft Project for detailed scheduling, Monday.com and Asana for visual work management, and ClickUp for an all-in-one approach. Our reviews compare each of them in detail.

Is Smartsheet worth it in 2026?

For teams that live in spreadsheets and need more control, yes. Smartsheet gives you scheduling, automation and portfolio reporting without forcing people to learn an unfamiliar interface, and it scales from a single project to dozens. The trade-offs are cost at higher tiers and a learning curve for advanced features.

The best way to decide is a focused trial. Rebuild 1 live project in Smartsheet, with real tasks, dependencies and owners, add 2 or 3 automations and a simple dashboard, and ask your sponsor whether the dashboard answers their questions. If the team keeps updating the sheet after 2 weeks and the sponsor stops asking for separate status reports, it is probably the right tool. If people drift back to email and local spreadsheets, try a more visual tool instead.

Whatever you choose, the tool will only be as good as the process behind it: clear ownership, agreed statuses and a regular review rhythm matter more than any feature list.

If your team is still deciding, compare Smartsheet side by side with 2 or 3 alternatives using the same real project, and score each on ease of use, reporting and cost.

Involve the people who will update the tool every day in that comparison, not just the managers who read the dashboards.