Smartsheet vs. ClickUp (2023): Which Is Best for Your Team?

Smartsheet and ClickUp are popular project management software for individuals and businesses. They offer various features and functionalities to streamline workflows, enhance communication and foster team collaboration. In this guide, we compared Smartsheet vs. ClickUp in terms of their respective features, pricing, strengths and weaknesses to help you select the best option for your project management needs.

Jump to:

• What is Smartsheet?
• What is ClickUp?
• Smartsheet vs. ClickUp: Comparison table
• Smartsheet and ClickUp: Pricing
• Feature Comparison: Smartsheet vs. ClickUp
• Smartsheet pros and cons
• ClickUp pros and cons
• Should your organization use Smartsheet or ClickUp?
• Review methodology

What is Smartsheet?

Smartsheet was designed based on the familiar interface of spreadsheets. It helps teams collaborate, manage projects and streamline work processes. Smartsheet allows users to create, edit and share documents; track progress; and automate repetitive tasks. It is used by businesses of all sizes and across various industries to improve productivity, enhance communication and achieve project goals efficiently.

What is ClickUp?

ClickUp is project management software that helps teams and individuals organize and collaborate on tasks and projects. It is known for its customizable interface, allowing users to personalize their workspace and adapt it to their specific workflow. ClickUp offers many features, such as task management, document sharing, team collaboration, time tracking and resource management.

Smartsheet vs. ClickUp: Comparison table

Smartsheet and ClickUp: Pricing

Smartsheet and ClickUp have two things in common: When it comes to pricing, they both offer a tiered pricing model and free plans. The amount you will pay for Smartsheet or ClickUp depends on the features you need and the number of people on your team.

Smartsheet and ClickUp free plan

Smartsheet offers a free plan, which is available to one user and up to two editors. It is ideal for individuals looking to test the software before buying it. ClickUp’s free plan is available to unlimited users, and it’s ideal for small teams looking for basic project management features.

For the paid plans, here is how they compare.

Smartsheet paid plans

• Pro: $7 per user per month when billed annually or $9 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan is available for a maximum of 10 users. It offers 20 GB attachment storage and 250 automations per month.
• Business: $25 per user per month when billed annually or $32 per user per month when billed monthly. It requires at least three users and has 1 TB attachment storage and unlimited monthly automations.
• Enterprise: Custom quote. According to Smartsheet, this plan is for organizations that run processes at scale with enterprise-grade security and controls.

For more information, read our in-depth Smartsheet review.

ClickUp paid plans

• Unlimited: $5 per user per month when billed annually or $9 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan is ideal for small teams. It includes unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards, resource management and agile reporting capability.
• Business: $12 per user per month when billed annually or $19 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan is ideal for mid-sized teams. It includes custom exporting, advanced public sharing, advanced automation, advanced dashboard features and workload management.
• Business Plus: $19 per user per month when billed annually or $29 per user per month when billed monthly. This plan is ideal for multiple teams.
• Enterprise: Custom quote. This plan is best for large teams.

For more information, read our comprehensive ClickUp review.

Feature comparison: Smartsheet vs. ClickUp

Free plans

Smartsheet’s free plan is available to one user and up to two editors. This plan is ideal for individuals, freelancers and one-employee businesses. It offers several basic project management features, including two sheets; multiple views such as Gantt, Grid, Card, and Calendar views; up to 500 MB attachment storage; 100 automations per month; and integrations with third-party tools like Microsoft Office 365 (Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, etc.), Google Workspace (Gmail, Hangouts, Drive, etc.) and Slack.

ClickUp offers a more generous free plan with the basic features needed by small teams to handle project management, making it one of the best free project management software. Unlike Smartsheet, ClickUp’s free plan is available to unlimited team members. This plan features 100 MB storage, unlimited tasks, two-factor authentication, collaborative docs, whiteboards, everything view, real-time chat, kanban boards, sprint management, native time tracking, calendar view and in-app video recording.

Although Smartsheet offers more storage, ClickUp ranks top in this category based on its extensive features and unlimited member capability.

Project views

Smartsheet offers multiple project views, allowing you to customize how you view and organize your project tasks.

You can choose from the following view options:

• Grid view.
• Calendar view.
• Gantt charts (Figure A).
• Dashboards.
• Kanban board.

Figure A: Gantt chart view in SmartsheetClickUp offers over 15 project views to help you customize how you view and organize your projects. They include:

• List.
• Kanban board (Figure B).
• Calendar.
• Box.
• Gantt.
• Activity.
• Timeline.
• Workload.
• Table (spreadsheets).
• Map.
• Mind maps.
• Whiteboards.
• Doc.
• Chat.
• Form.
• Embed.

For this category, ClickUp offers more extensive project views compared to Smartsheet, as it offers over 15 views, giving you more flexibility and options to choose the view that best fits your project management style and preferences.

Ease of use

Both Smartsheet and ClickUp are known for their user-friendly interfaces, but there are some differences in terms of ease of use.

Smartsheet is generally recognized for its familiar spreadsheet interface, simplicity and intuitive design. Its user interface is clean and organized, making it easy for users to navigate and quickly understand how to use the platform. Smartsheet also provides templates that make it easy to get started and customize projects according to specific needs.

ClickUp offers a feature-rich experience, which can make it slightly more complex to use compared to Smartsheet. While ClickUp provides a user-friendly interface with a well-organized layout, its extensive list of features and customization options can be overwhelming for some users, especially those new to project management tools.

Integrations

Smartsheet integrates with about 70 third-party applications, including popular tools such as Microsoft Office 365 (Teams, Outlook, OneDrive), Google Workspace (Gmail, Hangouts, Drive), Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud Extension, PowerBI, Tableau and e-Signature with DocuSign. These integrations allow users to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration by connecting Smartsheet with their existing tools and systems.

ClickUp offers over 50 native integrations and connections with over 1,000 apps and services through their Zapier integration. Users can connect ClickUp with various tools, including project management software, communication tools, file storage services, CRM systems and more.

Smartsheet pros and cons

Pros

• More workflow management features compared to ClickUp.
• Reporting and analytics capabilities.
• Can easily be used to manage complex project teams.
• Easy to understand for any new user familiar with MS Excel.

Cons

• Limited customization options.
• Resource management and time tracking tools require purchase as an add-on.

ClickUp pros and cons

Pros

• Over 15 views, including list, board, mind maps and more.
• Extensive time tracking capabilities.
• Better customization capabilities.
• Has a Chrome extension.
• Natural language processing capability.

Cons

• Limited template options.
• It takes some time to get acquainted with the platform.

Should your organization use Smartsheet or ClickUp?

Smartsheet is well-suited for organizations that prioritize spreadsheet-like functionality and have more traditional project management needs. It provides a familiar interface similar to Excel, making it easier for users already proficient in spreadsheets to adapt and work efficiently. Its reporting and analytics capabilities make it valuable for organizations that need to generate detailed reports and analyze project data. Smartsheet is commonly used in industries such as healthcare and life science, financial services, construction, marketing, IT and OPs and government agencies.

ClickUp is a more modern and flexible project management tool that caters to a broader range of users across various industries and departments, including law, accounting, construction, health, human resources, real estate, media, education and more. It is also suitable for organizations looking for a single platform to accommodate various project management methodologies, including Agile and Scrum.

Review methodology

We reviewed both platforms by gathering primary data from the vendors’ websites and user reviews from software review websites. We also researched extensively to understand each platform’s features, capabilities and pricing. Our review methodology included evaluating the following aspects: features, user interface, integration, pricing, user reviews and customer support.

Featured partners

Subscribe to the Project Management Insider Newsletter

Subscribe to Project Management Insider for best practices, reviews and resources. From project scheduling software to project planning apps, stay up to date with the latest in project management tools.

Delivered Wednesdays

Sign up today