Best Smartsheet Alternatives in 2026

Quick answer: the best Smartsheet alternatives

If you know what you want instead of Smartsheet, this table points you to the strongest option. Scores are our editorial ratings out of 10.

The best Smartsheet alternatives

The cards below list each alternative with its score, starting price, free plan and published G2 and Capterra ratings. They are ordered by how directly each tool addresses the most common reasons teams leave Smartsheet, then by our overall ranking.

1

Wrike

Best all-in-one work management platform

9.4/10

Choose Wrike if you want a more collaborative all-in-one platform. Wrike is a full-featured work management platform that brings project planning, resource management, portfolio views, creative proofing and business intelligence into one place. It takes longer to learn than lighter tools, but few competitors match its depth once a team scales.

Starting priceFree; paid from $10/user/month

Free planYes

User ratingsG2 4.2/5 (4,537)
Capterra 4.4/5 (3,041)

Wrike reviewSmartsheet vs Wrike

2

monday.com

Best for ease of use and visual workflows

9.1/10

Choose monday.com if you want a more visual interface. monday.com is a highly visual, flexible work platform with one of the friendliest interfaces on the market. It is easy to adopt and very customisable, though seat bundles and plan limits can push costs up.

Starting priceFree for up to 2 seats; paid from $9/seat/month

Free planYes (up to 2 seats)

User ratingsG2 4.7/5 (17,248)
Capterra 4.6/5 (6,120)

monday.com reviewSmartsheet vs monday.com

3

Asana

Best for cross-team task and goal management

9.0/10

Choose Asana if you want simpler task coordination. Asana is a polished, easy-to-use work management tool that excels at coordinating tasks across teams and linking them to company goals. Advanced capabilities such as portfolios and resource management are reserved for higher plans.

Starting priceFree (Personal); paid from $10.99/user/month

Free planYes (Personal plan, up to 2 users)

User ratingsG2 4.4/5 (14,008)
Capterra 4.5/5 (13,731)

Asana reviewSmartsheet vs Asana

4

ClickUp

Best value for feature-rich teams

8.9/10

Choose ClickUp if you want lower prices. ClickUp packs an enormous range of features into low-priced plans: tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals, sprints, time tracking and dashboards. The trade-off is complexity, and the best AI features are paid add-ons.

Starting priceFree; paid from $7/user/month

Free planYes

User ratingsG2 4.6/5 (14,714)
Capterra 4.6/5 (4,634)

ClickUp reviewSmartsheet vs ClickUp

5

Microsoft Planner

Best for Microsoft 365 organisations

8.1/10

Choose Microsoft Planner if you want Microsoft 365 integration. Microsoft Planner is the natural choice for Microsoft 365 organisations, now combining simple task boards with the advanced scheduling formerly in Project for the web. It is convenient and well integrated, but lighter than specialist platforms.

Starting priceBasic Planner included in Microsoft 365; Plan 1 from $10/user/month

Free planBasic Planner included with Microsoft 365

User ratingsG2 4.2/5 (237)
Capterra 4.3/5 (298)

Microsoft Planner reviewSmartsheet vs Microsoft Planner

6

Jira

Best for software and Agile teams

8.6/10

Choose Jira if you value agile & software teams. Jira is the industry standard for Agile software teams, with deep Scrum and Kanban support, issue tracking and developer integrations. It is less suited to non-technical teams and has a steep learning curve.

Starting priceFree for up to 10 users; Standard roughly $7.91/user/month

Free planYes (up to 10 users)

User ratingsG2 4.3/5 (7,988)
Capterra 4.4/5 (15,493)

Jira reviewSmartsheet vs Jira

7

Notion

Best for docs and projects in one workspace

8.0/10

Choose Notion if you value collaboration. Notion combines docs, wikis and databases into a flexible workspace that can be shaped into project trackers. It is excellent for knowledge management and lightweight projects, but lacks native time tracking, resource management and advanced scheduling.

Starting priceFree; paid from $10/member/month

Free planYes

User ratingsG2 4.6/5 (13,862)
Capterra 4.7/5 (2,834)

Notion reviewSmartsheet vs Notion

8

Trello

Best for simple Kanban boards

7.8/10

Choose Trello if you value ease of use. Trello is the simplest way to start managing work visually. Its cards and boards are intuitive and inexpensive, but it lacks the scheduling, resource and portfolio depth needed for complex projects.

Starting priceFree; paid from $5/user/month

Free planYes (up to 10 collaborators per workspace)

User ratingsG2 4.4/5 (14,063)
Capterra 4.5/5 (23,628)

Trello reviewSmartsheet vs Trello

9

Basecamp

Best for simple team and client communication

7.6/10

Choose Basecamp if you value ease of use. Basecamp keeps projects simple: message boards, to-dos, schedules, docs, chat and client access in one place, with flat pricing and no per-user fees. It deliberately avoids complex PM features.

Starting priceFree (1 project, up to 5 users); paid from $25/month flat

Free planYes (1 project, up to 5 users)

User ratingsG2 4.1/5 (5,489)
Capterra 4.4/5 (14,449)

Basecamp reviewSmartsheet vs Basecamp

Why teams look for Smartsheet alternatives

Smartsheet has real strengths. Its sheets look like Excel but behave like project plans, with dependencies, Gantt charts with critical path on every plan, forms, automation, cross-sheet reports and dashboards. Enterprise features such as Portfolios, Control Center and strong security controls make it a long-standing choice for PMOs, and it rates 4.5/5 on Capterra and 4.4/5 on G2.

Teams still look elsewhere, usually for one or more of these reasons:

• No free plan. Smartsheet removed its free plan in 2025. The cheapest option is Pro at $9 per member/month billed yearly, with a 30-day trial of the Business plan.
• Plan limits and the step up to Business. Pro is capped at 10 members and 250 automations per month and excludes timeline view, workload tracking, proofing and free Guests. Business costs $19 per member/month billed yearly, with a three-member minimum (checked 7 October 2026).
• Add-on costs. Resource Management, Dynamic View, Data Shuttle, Brandfolder and Premium Support are sold separately, and Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are quote-based.
• A grid-first interface. Board and calendar views exist, but the experience is less visual than board-first tools, which can slow adoption among creative and non-spreadsheet users.
• A learning curve for advanced use. Basic sheets are quick to learn; cross-sheet references, complex formulas, report logic and permission design take training.
• Performance on very large sheets. Users report that large, formula-heavy solutions can feel slow.
• Limited Agile tooling. There are no native backlogs, story points or velocity reporting for software teams.

When staying with Smartsheet makes sense

If your organisation plans in rows and columns, relies on Gantt charts with critical path, and reports across many projects through cross-sheet roll-ups, Smartsheet may still be the best fit. Its security credentials (its Trust Center lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP and HIPAA with a BAA) also matter in regulated industries. Free Contributors keep costs down when many stakeholders only need to view and comment.

How we chose these alternatives

We compared the other nine tools in our top 10 project management tools ranking. Each one is scored from 1 to 10 on seven categories: ease of use, feature depth, planning and resource management, collaboration, Agile and software teams, value for money, and scalability and enterprise readiness. We also considered published G2 and Capterra ratings and prices on each vendor's pricing page.

Many pages that rank for this topic are written by vendors that place their own product first, and some list spreadsheet-database tools we have not reviewed. We only include tools we have reviewed in depth, and we do not accept payment for rankings. Prices and ratings change often, so confirm them on the vendor's site before you buy.

Smartsheet alternatives reviewed

Here is how each alternative compares with Smartsheet specifically: what it does better, what you give up and who should consider it.

1. Wrike: best overall Smartsheet alternative

Wrike is our highest-rated tool (9.4/10) and the closest match to Smartsheet's enterprise depth, with a more collaborative, all-in-one design. Paid plans include interactive Gantt charts with dependencies, critical path and baselines, plus table, board and calendar views. Workload charts show who is over- or under-allocated, and higher tiers add effort allocation, job roles and capacity planning. Built-in proofing and approvals, request forms with conditional logic, dashboards and cross-project portfolio views cover what many Smartsheet customers buy as separate add-ons.

Wrike has a free plan with board and table views; Team costs $10/user/month for 2 to 15 users and Business $25/user/month (billed annually), with Pinnacle and Apex on quote. Like Smartsheet, it takes time to configure well.

2. monday.com: best for a more visual interface

monday.com is the natural choice for teams that like Smartsheet's rows and columns but want something friendlier. Every board is a table with many column types, and it can be switched to Kanban, timeline, Gantt and calendar views. Dashboards combine data from several boards, and recipe-style automations handle routine updates.

Plans are sold in seat bundles with a three-seat minimum: Basic is $9, Standard (with timeline and Gantt) $12 and Pro $19 per seat/month, billed annually, and the free plan covers two seats. Advanced resource and portfolio features are on Enterprise. See our monday.com review and monday.com vs Smartsheet.

3. Asana: best for simpler task coordination

Asana suits teams that use Smartsheet mainly to track who is doing what by when across departments. It offers list, board, calendar, timeline and Gantt views, dependencies, custom fields, forms, rules and dashboards from the Starter plan, with portfolios, goals, workload and approvals on Advanced. Paid plans include unlimited free guests.

Starter costs $10.99/user/month and Advanced $24.99/user/month (billed annually). Asana is less suited than Smartsheet to formula-heavy trackers and detailed financial tracking.

4. ClickUp: best for lower prices

ClickUp gives you table, list, board, Gantt, calendar, timeline and workload views, docs, whiteboards, goals, time tracking and sprints in one workspace, at prices well below Smartsheet's Business plan: Unlimited is $7/user/month and Business $12/user/month (billed annually), with a Free Forever plan.

The trade-off is complexity and less mature enterprise portfolio and governance controls than Smartsheet, and its best AI features are paid add-ons.

5. Microsoft Planner: best for Microsoft 365 organisations

Many organisations use Smartsheet alongside Excel and Teams. Microsoft Planner keeps everything inside Microsoft 365: basic Planner is included in many business plans, Planner Plan 1 ($10/user/month, paid yearly) adds timeline (Gantt) views, dependencies, milestones and custom fields, and Planner and Project Plan 3 ($30/user/month) adds baselines, critical path and resource management. Microsoft retired Project for the web in 2025 and moved its capabilities into Planner.

Planner is lighter than Smartsheet for reporting and customisation, and richer reporting usually means Power BI.

6. Jira: best for software teams

If software or IT teams are tracking work in Smartsheet, Jira is the specialist alternative, with backlogs, sprints, story points, velocity and burndown reports, configurable workflows and deep developer integrations. Its free plan covers up to 10 users, and timeline view is available on all plans.

Jira is not designed for business teams or spreadsheet-style trackers, so many organisations keep a separate tool for non-technical work.

7. Notion: best for docs and database-style trackers

Notion's databases can be viewed as tables, boards, timelines and calendars, so they feel familiar to spreadsheet users, and they sit next to the documents, wikis and meeting notes that Smartsheet does not handle. It is excellent value, with a free plan, Plus from $10/member/month and Business from $20.

Notion has no native time tracking or resource management, and complex project setups take effort to build.

8. Trello: best for simple boards

If Smartsheet is more than your team needs, Trello is the simplest step down: intuitive Kanban boards, Butler automation and Power-Ups, with a free plan for up to 10 collaborators per workspace. Premium adds calendar, timeline, table and dashboard views.

Trello is not built for dependencies, resource planning or portfolios. Standard costs $5 and Premium $10 per user/month (billed annually).

9. Basecamp: best for flat pricing and client communication

Basecamp takes the opposite approach to Smartsheet: message boards, to-dos, a Kanban-style Card Table, schedules, chat and docs on one page per project, with flat monthly pricing from $25 and unlimited users from the $59 Studio plan.

It has no Gantt dependencies, resource management or advanced reporting, so it suits teams whose priority is communication rather than detailed planning.

Smartsheet alternatives compared

This summary table puts each alternative's best use, starting price and user ratings side by side, with a link to its head-to-head comparison with Smartsheet.

Smartsheet pricing vs the alternatives

Smartsheet charges per member (paid users who create and manage work); Contributors who view and comment are free, and Guests are free from Business. Published plans, checked on Smartsheet's pricing page on 7 October 2026:

This illustration compares the monthly list price, billed annually, for 10 and 25 people who create and manage work, using each tool's plan with Gantt or timeline views:

Smartsheet is competitive for small teams on Pro, but the move to Business for timeline, workload and unlimited automation roughly doubles the per-member cost. Add-ons such as Resource Management can change the picture again. When you compare, count only the people who need to edit: Smartsheet's Contributors are free, and most alternatives also offer free or low-cost viewers or guests, with rules that differ by tool.

Which alternatives feel most like a spreadsheet?

If your team lives in rows and columns, you do not have to give that up:

• monday.com: every board is a table with typed columns (status, people, dates, numbers, formulas), which makes it the most natural move for Smartsheet users who want a more visual tool.
• Wrike: table view on every plan, including Free, plus custom fields and custom item types for structured data across projects.
• ClickUp: table view with custom fields, plus Gantt and workload views on paid plans.
• Notion: database tables with properties and formulas, linked to documents.
• Microsoft Planner: works alongside Excel and the rest of Microsoft 365 for organisations standardised on it.

None of these reproduces Smartsheet's cross-sheet formulas exactly, so expect to rebuild complex calculations. Our free project tracker template and Gantt chart template are a useful bridge while you decide.

Best Smartsheet alternatives by use case

Best free Smartsheet alternative

Wrike has the most capable free plan for teams that expect to grow into Gantt charts and resource management. ClickUp (Free Forever) and Trello (up to 10 collaborators per workspace) are strong for small teams, and Jira is free for up to 10 users for software teams. Basic Microsoft Planner is included in many Microsoft 365 plans.

Cheapest Smartsheet alternative

Trello Standard ($5) and ClickUp Unlimited ($7) are the lowest-priced paid plans in our review. Basecamp's flat price is cheapest for large teams with relatively few active projects.

Best Smartsheet alternative for small teams

ClickUp, monday.com and Wrike's Team plan (2 to 15 users) give small teams Gantt charts and dashboards without Smartsheet's Pro limits.

Best Smartsheet alternative for enterprises and PMOs

Wrike is our first recommendation: it shares Smartsheet's top score for scalability and enterprise readiness and adds stronger collaboration, proofing and resource management in one platform. monday.com and Asana also offer enterprise plans. Our guides to the project management office (PMO) and enterprise project management cover what to look for.

Best Smartsheet alternative for resource management

Wrike includes workload charts on paid plans and adds capacity planning on higher tiers, while Asana includes workload on Advanced. Smartsheet's own Resource Management is a separate add-on. Our guides to capacity planning and resource allocation explain the techniques.

Best Smartsheet alternative for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Planner, with Plan 3 for baselines, critical path and resource management. Wrike also integrates with Microsoft tools if you need more depth.

Best Smartsheet alternative for Agile and software teams

Jira for dedicated software teams; ClickUp for sprints alongside broader business work.

Best Smartsheet alternative for visual and creative teams

monday.com for colourful, flexible boards, and Wrike for creative teams that need proofing and approval workflows.

How to choose the right Smartsheet alternative

1. Audit how you use Smartsheet today. List your key sheets, reports, dashboards, forms, automations and integrations, and which ones people actually rely on.
2. Name the reason for leaving. Cost, usability, collaboration, resource management and Agile support each point to a different alternative.
3. Decide whether you need a grid. If yes, prioritise monday.com, Wrike, ClickUp or Notion; if not, the field opens up.
4. List must-have planning features, such as Gantt with dependencies, baselines, workload and portfolio views. Our guides to project management software features and Gantt chart software explain the options.
5. Compare 12-month costs for editors and viewers, including seat minimums and add-ons.
6. Rebuild one real plan and its status report in two shortlisted tools during their trials, and ask the people who use it daily to judge.

For a fuller process, read how to choose project management software.

How to migrate from Smartsheet

Moving rows of data is the easy part. Most of the effort goes into rebuilding the logic around them. This table shows where common Smartsheet elements usually go:

1. Inventory and clean up. Archive finished sheets, remove unused columns and standardise status values before exporting.
2. Export active sheets to Excel. Most alternatives import tasks from Excel or CSV files, and some offer direct importers, so check your new vendor's help centre for current options.
3. Build structure first. Create templates, custom fields, statuses and views in the new tool, then import into them.
4. Re-create dependencies, formulas and automations, and test them on a copy of a live project.
5. Rebuild reports and dashboards so that stakeholders get the same project status reports they rely on today.
6. Pilot, then migrate in waves. Move one team or programme first, keep Smartsheet available read-only for an overlap period, then plan the rest around your renewal date.

Our verdict on Smartsheet alternatives

Smartsheet remains an excellent tool for spreadsheet-minded organisations that need structured plans, roll-up reporting and governance at scale. If you are leaving because of cost, the lack of a free plan, add-ons or a grid-first interface, there are strong options. Wrike is our first recommendation for most teams: it matches Smartsheet on planning depth and enterprise readiness and adds a free plan, built-in proofing and deeper workload management. monday.com is the best choice if you want a more visual table-based tool, Asana for simpler coordination, and ClickUp for the lowest cost per feature.

Browse every head-to-head on our compare project management tools page, and if AI features matter to your decision, see our guide to AI project management tools.

Frequently asked questions