20 Best Smartsheet Alternatives For Teams In 2026
10 Best Alternatives To Smartsheet
I’ll take an in-depth look at the following Smartsheet alternatives in this review:
The best Smartsheet alternatives let you start running projects quicker and with less overhead, are better suited for simpler projects, and offer key features that Smartsheet is missing, like invoicing. With the right alternative to Smartsheet, you can manage your projects and collaborate with the team in a way that best fits your needs.
I've used my 20+ years of experience in project management to test a variety of Smartsheet alternatives so you can find the right tool that will help you and your team track project progress, assign work, and deliver projects successfully. Below, I cover strengths and key differences, pros and cons, and ideal use cases for each tool.
What are Smartsheet Alternatives?
Smartsheet alternatives are project management and collaboration software solutions that offer similar functionality to Smartsheet, but in a simpler interface or with extra features that Smartsheet doesn't offer, like client management, invoicing, or the ability to create baselines. They also might have a lower price point than Smartsheet.
Alternatives to Smartsheet will include many of the standard project management and collaboration features typically included in this kind of software, such as task management, project tracking, and team communication.
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Best Smartsheet Competitors And Alternatives Summary
Use this table to compare the specs on my picks for Smartsheet alternatives.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Smartsheet alternative for teams for a free plan | Free demo + free plan + 14-day free trial available | From $10/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 2 | Best Smartsheet alternative for a cheaper cost | 14-day free trial + free plan + free demo available | From $9/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 3 | Best Smartsheet Alternative for business plan management with strategy experts | Free demo available | From $70/user/month | Website | |
| 4 | Best for in-app sales management | Free demo + 14-day free trial | From $9/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 5 | Best for detailed time tracking | 30-day free trial | From $6/user/month | Website | |
| 6 | Best for full lifecycle project delivery | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 7 | Organize your communication by topic, project, or even specific data point | 30-day free trial + free demo available | From $24/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 8 | Best Smartsheet alternative for teams with billing and invoicing | Free trial + free demo available | From $29/user/month (billed annually, min 5 seats) | Website | |
| 9 | Best for efficient project management through visual task tracking | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 10 | Best Smartsheet alternative for collaboration with unlimited viewer-only accounts | Free plan available | From $18/user/month | Website |
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Zoho Projects
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.2 -
Forecast
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.6 -
Accelo
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.4
Best Smartsheet Competitor Overviews
Here are my reviews of each Smartsheet alternative. I’ve covered advantages and disadvantages, free trial information, and cost, as well as provided my expert opinion.I’ve used my 20+ years of experience in project management to test a variety of monday.com alternatives so you can find the right tool that will help you and your team better manage your projects and teams. Below, I cover strengths and key differences, pros and cons, and ideal use cases for each tool.
Why Wrike is a great Smartsheet alternative
Smartsheet doesn’t come with a free subscription option. Wrike not only has a free plan available, but also provides more-than-decent features within it, such as unlimited user numbers, task and subtask management, desktop and mobile app availability, and even a spreadsheet view so you won’t miss what you get from Smartsheet.
New Product Updates from Wrike
Streamlining Workspaces with New Updates
Wrike announces custom space templates, AI Agents in Wrike Labs, and a new Guage widget to improve project management. For more information, visit Wrike's official site.
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Why monday.com is a great Smartsheet alternative
monday.com is the task management solution you need to make your agile team’s work a bit less burdensome. The interface is nothing like Smartsheet; it’s easy to use for anyone and requires minimal training. This makes it ideal if you’re considering switching and don’t have too much time to get used to a new platform. And it all comes at a considerably lower cost than Smartsheet, complete with a free plan if you want to give the tool an extended test run.
New Product Updates from monday.com
monday.coms Project Setup with Batch Dependencies
monday.com's new update enhances your workflow with batch dependencies for efficient project setup. For more information, visit monday.com's official site.
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Best Smartsheet Alternative for business plan management with strategy experts
Why AchieveIt is a great Smartsheet alternative
AchieveIt is a good Smartsheet alternative for several reasons. AchieveIt is specifically designed to help businesses manage strategic initiatives and goals, while Smartsheet is a more general project management tool. This means that AchieveIt offers a more focused set of features and functionalities for managing strategic planning and execution. They collect and visualize multiple business plans across your organization and then deliver the data visualizations that matter most to your inbox every morning. AchieveIt also offers strategy consultations with certified experts on planning and reporting goals, which makes it stand out from virtually every other item on this list.
Why Productive is a great Smartsheet alternative
Productive offers tools that specifically cater to project budgeting. Productive's financial management tools make it easier for businesses to manage their finances. The software has a built-in invoicing system that sends automatic invoices to clients and tracks payment schedules. Additionally, it offers features directed toward revenue forecasting, helping users plan and make informed decisions. However, the biggest advantage over Smartsheet is that it has a sales module built into the platform which helps you follow up on leads through your sales funnel and forecast potential sales revenue.
New Product Updates from Productive
Productive Adds Custom Proposals, E-Signing, and Automated Deal Workflows
Productive introduces custom proposals, built-in e-signing, automation triggers, and improved proposal management tools. Together, these updates help teams create, send, and get proposals signed faster while maintaining brand consistency and clear approval records. For more information, visit Productive’s official site.
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Why actiTIME is a great Smartsheet alternative
I like its focus on detailed time tracking and reporting. The platform allows you to log time spent on tasks, set estimates, and compare actual hours to planned ones. This level of detail helps in understanding where time is being spent and identifying areas for improvement. Additionally, actiTIME offers customizable reports that can be grouped by various parameters, such as project or team member, providing insights into productivity and resource allocation.
New Product Updates from actiTIME
actiTIME's Enhanced Custom Field Imports and Timesheet Settings
actiTIME enhances project setup and daily tracking with new custom fields import and refined timesheet & calendar settings. These updates help you keep all your task data in sync and view your workday the way you want. For more information, visit actiTIME's official site.
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Why Kantata is a great Smartsheet alternative
Kantata is a strong alternative to Smartsheet for teams that need more than just task tracking. It’s built for professional services firms and supports the full lifecycle of project delivery, from planning and staffing to execution and reporting. With people-centric resourcing, you can also match the right talent to the right work, balance workloads, and prevent burnout. At the same time, integrated financials and business intelligence give you the visibility to keep projects profitable and clients happy.
New Product Updates from Kantata
Kantata Integrates E-Invoicing With Avalara
Kantata introduces integrated e-invoicing through its partnership with Avalara, enabling compliant, automated invoicing across regions. For more information, visit Kantata's official site.
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Kintone
Organize your communication by topic, project, or even specific data point
Why Kintone is a great Smartsheet alternative
Kintone is an all-in-one project management platform that allows managers to track, prioritize, and review their team’s tasks for any given project workflow—no matter how complex. What sets Kintone apart from Smartsheet? You can organize your communication by topic, project, or even specific data point. It's got a simple and intuitive user interface. It offers a flexible structure for all your data. Customer support is included in all plans with a dedicated support rep. You can also secure your data with SSO, SAML, IP address restriction with no additional cost.
Ravetree
Best Smartsheet alternative for teams with billing and invoicing
Why Ravetree is a great Smartsheet alternative
Ravetree is a cloud-based work management software that facilitates project management, resource planning, and client and contact management. In addition to its comprehensive project and task management capabilities, this software is well-suited to professional service providers and agencies due to its client-facing features. The platform's client portals and ability to create estimates (with templates) are unique compared to Smartsheet's capabilities. Users can auto-generate invoices, set up retainer agreements, and establish various bill rates directly through the software.
Parallax
Best for efficient project management through visual task tracking
Why Parallax is a great Smartsheet alternative
Parallax is a project management tool that's been making waves as a solid alternative to Smartsheet. It's a SaaS product that's designed to help teams manage their tasks, projects, and workflows more efficiently. It's got a clean, intuitive interface that's easy to navigate, and it's packed with features that make project management a whole lot easier. With its task management system, it's easy to create, assign, and track tasks, and you can even set up automated workflows to streamline your processes. This is a game-changer for teams that are juggling multiple projects at once, as it helps to keep everything organized and on track.
Visor
Best Smartsheet alternative for collaboration with unlimited viewer-only accounts
Why Visor is a great Smartsheet alternative
Visor is a great Smartsheet alternative if you want to go all-in on easy, unlimited, real-time collaboration. First of all, Visor offers unlimited viewer-only accounts (for free) so you can bring in any contractors or external stakeholders without paying for an extra seat. Secondly, Visor is ridiculously intuitive and easy to get up and running. This removes the "training barrier" of adding new members to your plan, be they in the Owner, Editor, Commenter, and/or Viewer Roles. With Visor, you can get everyone on the same page and collaborating without much fuss.
Other Smartsheet Alternatives
Here are some additional Smartsheet alternatives that didn’t make it onto my shortlist, but are still worth checking out:
- Pneumatic Workflow
Smartsheet alternative for streamlining digital projects
- ClickUp
Intuitive Smartsheet alternative for startups and SMBs
- Rocketlane
Client & stakeholder portals with shared project views
- Hive
Internal chat and communication systems
- Scoro
For project management with built-in KPI tracking
- Celoxis
Smartsheet alternative for project cost and performance analysis
- Accelo
Smartsheet alternative for billing and retainer management
- Bonsai Agency Software
Smartsheet alternative for agencies
- Screendragon
Smartsheet alternative for scaling marketing & agency teams
- Hub Planner by Milient
Smartsheet alternative for resource management
About Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like project management tool. It has won a few awards on its way to becoming a favorite business app. It’s a nice option if you’re comfortable working in Excel but want a break from complicated formulas. Smartsheet performs all the calculations for you across multiple sheets. You can also add customized brand logos and set color themes for individual projects.
Additionally, it has useful project management features such as workflow automation and task visualization via Gantt, calendar and card views. Team members get instantly notified of critical changes, and the tool provides shared views, detail history, activity logs, automated alerts, reminders, and status reports to keep everyone aligned and informed.
The critical path feature also highlights all the tasks which directly impact your project completion date so you can keep an eye on important milestones. Smartsheet offers strong reporting features as well, such as editable summary reports that you can easily export to Excel.
Smartsheet integrations include Microsoft (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Excel) and Google apps, as well as development essentials like Jira, and useful business apps like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, Box, and Tableau. The platform is extensible through a REST API and webhooks.
This tool costs from $7/user/month, with a minimum of 3 users and a maximum of 25 users. They also offer a 30-day free trial.
Why Might You Need A Smartsheet Alternative?
Your team’s not enjoying the interface
Members who are used to collaborating via spreadsheets and database-like tools won’t have an issue with Smartsheet’s design, but others might find the UI clunky. For a more enjoyable experience, look for customizable and colorful project management tools that meet today’s standards for what software should look and feel like.
You need to invoice clients
Smartsheet has a budgeting option so you can track time, budgets, and expenses using their 10,000ft panel but there’s still no way to send invoices directly from the app. 10,000ft is also sold separately from Smartsheet as a premium add-on product.
You’re finding it too expensive
Smartsheet is indeed one of the more expensive project management solutions on the market. This is in part due to its extensive project management features and enterprise-level target market. However, you can find similar functionalities at a much lower cost.
Smartsheet Alternatives Selection Criteria
When selecting the best Smartsheet alternatives to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points related to project management software, like the need for more advanced automation features and better scalability for large teams. I used the following framework:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Task and project tracking
- Collaboration and file sharing
- Workflow automation
- Reporting and analytics
- Resource management
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- AI-powered project insights
- Native time tracking
- Advanced budgeting tools
- Seamless third-party integrations
- Customizable automation workflows
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive user interface
- Minimal learning curve
- Responsive and modern design
- Customizable dashboards
- Mobile accessibility
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered whether each tool has the following available:
- Training videos
- Pre-built templates for quick setup
- Interactive product tours
- Dedicated onboarding support
- Access to live or recorded webinars
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered whether each tool offered the following:
- 24/7 availability
- Multiple support channels
- Quick response time to inquiries
- High quality help documentation
- Availability of dedicated account managers
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered whether the tool offered the following:
- Transparent pricing structure
- Free plan or trial availability
- Scalability of pricing tiers
- Essential features in lower-tier plans
- ROI potential for businesses of different sizes
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered whether customer reviews highlighted the following:
- Ease of use feedback
- Quality of customer support
- Reliability and uptime reports
- Feature satisfaction
- Overall recommendation rate
Key Features For A Viable Smartsheet Alternative
Time tracking
Basic time tracking options are available through their 10,000ft integration, which costs extra, so you might prefer a tool with native time tracking capabilities that include timesheets and time reporting.
Task and workflow management
In spite of Smartsheet looking like just another database, the tool does come with advanced task management and view options like a Gantt chart and Kanban board. In an alternative, consider solutions that let you add subtasks, task priorities, and dependencies to handle complex projects without overcrowding a spreadsheet.
A friendlier interface
Talk to your team to see what kind of UI they would prefer to replace the traditional spreadsheet-style appearance. You’ll want advanced features like custom fields, a design any user can personalize, and a variety of add-ons to make use of on top of your team’s workspace.
Custom reporting
Smartsheet boasts a strong real-time report builder feature. For teams working with lots of data or needing to provide proof of their work to clients, you’ll want an alternative that nails reporting too.
What's Next?
Here are more alternatives and competitors lists for other software you might be interested in.