Best Smartsheet Alternatives to Consider in 2024


Best Smartsheet Alternatives to Consider in 2024

Are you on the lookout for the right and top-rated alternatives for Smartsheet? Smartsheet is an online project management app that is quite similar to spreadsheets and is designed to simplify tasks, project status tracking, execution, and collaboration. This tool offers an innovative solution for various businesses of different sizes, blending the ease of spreadsheets with visual timeline management, offering a discussion forum, collaborative file sharing and reviewing, and automated workflow abilities. Having said that, it’s imperative to note that Smartsheet comes with some limitations. But hey, the sigh of relief is that there are many Smartsheet alternatives available in the market that assure to transform how you operate. But before delving into Smartsheet competitors, let’s see what those constraints or shortcomings are that push people to look for other similar tools.

Why are Smartsheet Alternatives Needed?

There are several resource and project management software available in the market that offer competitive features. But if you want to find a Smartsheet alternative, we’ve collated a list of some of the top-rated and best Smartsheet alternatives that you can consider. But before we do that, let’s first review the reasons why people are looking for Smartsheet alternatives. Though this app is built on the capabilities of Excel, managing a project with its sheet view has a number of challenges. Though Smartsheet enables the team members to use and collaborate to assign tasks, share content, view timelines, and so on, its execution has some flaws, which are as follows.

Any venture that requires coordination and management of projects needs a project lead – their role is vital. Every business, be it information technology, design, telecommunications or any other, has a series of projects. And the goal is always to complete these projects on time. It is the business manager’s responsibility to ensure that it happens.

1. Missing features to manage portfolios effectively

Though Smartsheet provides some portfolio features, it doesn’t manage their programs or end-to-end portfolios of various projects. The tool also doesn’t have any time-tracking capabilities to manage resources, which is a crucial feature that enables project managers to monitor productivity and resource utilization and check what is planned vis-à-vis actual effort. However, Smartsheet doesn’t offer these advanced time-tracking capabilities and thus, it isn’t possible to track and gauge the time that resources are spent on various tasks.

2. Deficient scheduling and project management features

Though the tool has a few scheduling and task or project management features, the capabilities are unfortunately not as robust and extensive as many Smartsheet alternatives. Having said that, Smartsheet is an expensive project management software, but its features and interface is confusing for new users. The interface is quite complex for people using it and makes it tough for users trying to navigate the tool.

3. No central hub for communication

Smartsheet’s communication feature resembles that of Excel, and you can leave comments, respond to any previous comments directly or via an email, and even tag team members or assign them tasks, but it still lacks a streamlined channel that can be used just for communication. Because of that, people may miss the messages as they cannot follow a single thread and the communication could be scattered.

4. Lack of automation

One of the key objectives of project and resource management tools is that they should reduce or eliminate any mundane or repetitive tasks to save time. But on the contrary, Smartsheet makes it tough for its users as they need to invite the same team members repeatedly.

There are some other challenges with this tool, but let’s now consider the best Smartsheet alternatives you can consider in 2024.

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Best Smartsheet Alternatives You Have to Try

Let’s now review the top Smartsheet alternatives and their features, pros, and cons, along with their pricing. You can check out which ones suit you the most and then invest accordingly.


1. eResource Scheduler

If you are aiming to streamline your project management delivery and resource management, opt for the top-rated resource planning and management tool, eResource Scheduler. With a feature-rich interface, eResource Scheduler comes at a competitive price and eases project planning and execution for multiple projects. It also aids in creating feasible schedules while improving team collaboration especially in the case of remote or distributed teams. This best-in-class tool becomes your ally in resource management, project management, capacity planning, tracking utilization, workflow scheduling, and a lot more. Its brilliant features such as high configurability, drag and drop scheduling, scalability, graphical and detailed reports, time-tracking and email notifications make it a preferred choice for businesses in various industries. Multiple calendars offer easy monitoring, precise resource utilization reports, detailed resource, project, and job profiling, time-tracking, and recurrence or split booking to make complex project management simple for you. This award-winning resource management and time-tracking tool helps you to plan and manage your projects and resources seamlessly, design comprehensive and visual dashboards, track team utilization, and track profitability. Take a free trial to try out its features and robust architecture and improve your team’s utilization from 18 to 30%.

eResource Scheduler: Key Features

  • Custom fields help to capture data in easy steps
  • Drag and drop resource scheduling
  • Scalability
  • Simplified resource planning process
  • Time-tracking and management
  • Easy approval process of time entries
  • Capacity reporting
  • Access to financial dat
  • Configurable calendars
  • Role-based access

eResource Scheduler: Pros

  • Enterprise-wide and real-time visibility
  • Simple and multi-user interface
  • Easy to track individual and team’s utilization and productivity
  • Management reports and visual dashboards
  • Offers multiple calendars
  • Automated alerts and notifications
  • Gantt charts enable efficient scheduling
  • Financial reporting module
  • Free 14-day trial

eResource Scheduler: Cons

  • Does not have mobile application
  • Limited customization options on Dashboard.

eResource Scheduler: Pricing:

  1. Scheduling Module (Core): is available at $5 per month per resource, along with individualized support

  2. Timesheet Module (Optional): $5 per month for each resource

  3. Financial Module (Optional): $4 per month for each resource.

  4. Free trial: 14-day free trial

2. Microsoft Project

One of the most popular and well-known project management software, Microsoft Project is a cloud-based software that is part of the MS Office suite. This means that it operates flawlessly with any Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Planner, and so on. Navigating MS Project may seem familiar to most users, and that’s one of the reasons that make it a top Smartsheet alternative. The tool’s project planning capabilities are worth mentioning however, the software doesn’t provide many solutions that are industry-specific. For example, the tool may not be suitable for the construction business which may want certain specific planning, management, and reporting features.

Though a top-rated productivity tool, MS Project offers limited integration capabilities with any third-party applications your organization may be using and isn’t Mac. So, in a nutshell, the tool could be very useful for seasoned project managers, but it may cause some frustration to the new one as they may take time to understand it.

MS Project: Pros and Key Features

  • Offers several project management views to enable planning, scheduling, allocating, and monitoring projects

  • Robust features for managing your projects, end-to-end programs, and portfolios

  • Integrated project management reports

  • Offers a free one-month trial

MS Project: Cons or Limitations

  • The tool is expensive (Desktop and online version), but is good, particularly for larger teams

  • Has a steep learning curve and a difficult-to-learn interface that may overwhelm beginners

  • It is difficult to share and use files as MS Project files have a very unique format

  • Does not have mobile app

MS Project: Pricing

  • Project Plan 1: $10 user per month

  • Project Plan 3: $30 user per month

  • Project Plan 5: $55 user per month

3. ClickUp

One of the leading and popular end-to-end productivity platforms, ClickUp is a top-rated software and boasts of its robust reporting, collaboration, and time-tracking features. A comprehensive solution, ClickUp is one of the leading Smartsheet alternatives and has a free version to offer too.


ClickUp: What’s Unique

ClickUp’s over 15 customized views enable to visualize the project workspace as it suits you. Not only does it enable you to view a List, access Box, view and leverage Gantt charts and Kanban board, or utilize the Calendar, this tool is highly customizable which makes it easy to use for various teams. Different departments can operate from a view that is helpful to them. For instance, the sales team progress can be reflected in the CRM, but Kanban displays the content team. However, the IT team can be viewed in the list view, and the product team is reflected in the calendar view—but every team is able to collaborate on a single platform! Also, ClickUp’s in-built time-management and tracking feature tracks your resource utilization and productivity, keeps a tab on billable hours, or collects the consolidated time spent on various projects. What’s more? It also easily integrates with any third-party tool, such as Time Doctor, Everhour, or Timely.


ClickUp: Key Features

  • Over 100 ready-to-use templates for workflow automation

  • Drag and drop feature to assign tasks easily

  • Mind maps to effectively plan and structure new or existing tasks and projects

  • Task checklists to provide more details and accountability for projects

  • ClickUp docs help create, assign, or tag docs into categories like tasks and subtasks

  • Custom statuses and tags to tailor workflows to individual requirements

ClickUp: Pros

  • Free Forever Plan with various advanced features

  • Suitable for Kanban, Scrum, and other Agile development projects

  • Track your team’s productivity with detailed reports

  • Highly user-friendly interface that helps in project management

  • Custom permissions to inform all the project stakeholders

  • Visual and dashboards for seamless work management

  • Easy to develop a project plan with ClickUp Docs

  • Works with several third-party integrations such as Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Office 365, etc.

  • Dependencies help structure tasks in the right manner

  • Easy-to-use task templates and robust automation features

ClickUp: Cons

  • Dashboards cannot be exported
  • Tags are not available for Docs

ClickUp: Pricing

A free forever plan that comes with four more pricing options to select from:

  • Free Forever: Free Forever members and Unlimited tasks along with 100MB of storage

  • Unlimited: $7 per user/month with unlimited dashboards, members, integrations, Gantt Charts, and storage

  • Business: $12 per user/month for Mind Maps, unlimited teams, time-tracking, workflow management, and advanced automation features

  • Enterprise: Custom pricing for white labeling, advanced permissions, and enterprise API


4. ProjectManager

This tool puts all the solutions you may require for planning and executing your project, from start to completion in just one online platform. ProjectManager is one of the top Smartsheet alternatives and it makes it easy to plan and manage tasks, track progress and time, design reports, and a lot more. Besides that, this award-winning tool facilitates team collaboration throughout each milestone, and unlike many resource and project management tools, this software is specially crafted for ace project managers and amateurs alike, which means all types of users can gain the most out of it. In simple words, one may be working remotely, or in their office, or on-site, and irrespective of their level of competencies, this tool’s multiple project views enable you to work the way that suits you. That’s not all! You get a 30-day free trial to gauge if this Smartsheet alternative works for you. Project Manager even offers beginners to use Kanban boards and various task lists, and work seamlessly with the online Gantt chart tool. So, if you wish to leverage the Gantt chart view or the sheet view or maybe both together, you can easily do so with this tool.

ProjectManager: Pros and Key Features

  • Gantt chart view and sheet view available

  • Cost and time tracking in real-time

  • Several project management views and tools

  • Mobile app available for Android and iOS

  • Free 30-day trial


ProjectManager: Cons

  • Limited customization options

  • Limited native integrations


ProjectManager: Pricing options

  • Team: $13 user per month

  • Business: $24 user per month

  • Enterprise: Get in touch with sales to find more


5. Asana

A tool known for being easy-to-use, and a popular choice with project managers because of its brilliant features. Asana comes with an easy-to-understand interface, possibility of countless integrations, and a lot more, Asana is a great Smartsheet alternative. However, please note that Asana is more suitable if you’re executing smaller and simpler projects.


Asana: Key Features

  • Kanban board helps in workflow management

  • File sharing and reviews enable enhanced team collaboration

  • Advanced and robust task management features offer checklists and subtasks

  • Project overviews allow seamless resource management


Asana: Pros

  • Enables collaboration with distributed team members in real-time

  • Helps to delegate tasks with ease and sends automatic notifications and alerts

  • Dedicated functions crafted for Agile teams, including backlog management and automation of workflows

  • Best-suited for handling multiple projects and larger teams


Asana: Cons

  • No native features for time tracking

  • Not possible to tag or assign a comment to a specific team member

  • Free plan offers limited functionality

  • Tasks cannot have several assignees


Asana: Pricing

Offers four options:

  • Basic Free option
  • Premium: $10.99 per user/month
  • Business: $24.99 per user/month
  • Enterprise: Offers custom pricing


Discover the power of a project management office (PMO)

6. Monday.com

A top project management solution, which is also known as a visual manager, Monday.com particularly focuses on connecting its users and enabling smooth collaboration. The user interface design of this tool is very visual and all its features link to a central view where your resources can get an overview of all the key information and easily collaborate. This visual representation and structured manner of organizing information is one of the key reasons for this tool to get many positive reviews as a top Smartsheet alternative. You can view all the data and determine how to analyze or manage it with the task lists, Kanban boards, timelines, and so on. Though the tool’s visuals are its differentiator, a lot of feedback also feels that such visuals could be distracting and overwhelming at times, which may not help in important processes that rely on data such as time tracking, resource management, or scheduling.


Monday.com: Key Features and Pros

  • Minimalistic and easy-to-understand UI

  • Visual portfolio reports and comprehensive dashboards to monitor project progress, resources, and overall costs

  • Free trial for 14 days

  • Offers a mobile app for Android and iOS


Monday.com: Cons

  • Gantt charts are too simplistic and some key features like cost tracking are lacking

  • Inadequate project reporting capabilities

  • Customizable views need a manual setup


Monday.com Pricing

  • Basic: $8 user per month

  • Standard: $10 user per month

  • Pro: $16 user per month


7. Trello

A popular Kanban-based project management software, Trello is great for simple projects as it enables automations and integrations. This SaaS tool solution is one of the best Smartsheet competitors because of its best-in-class features. Read on to find out more about it.


Trello: Key Features

  • Customizable and interactive and cards

  • Power-ups help provide extra functionality to Trello boards

  • Checklists enable better task structuring

  • High-level views for enhanced team collaboration

  • Color-coded labels to systematize tasks with ease


Trello: Pros

  • Easy learning curve due to the friendly UI

  • Easy task scheduling with the drag and drop feature

  • Keyboard shortcuts add convenience

  • Mobile app especially for iOS and Android


Trello: Cons

  • Native reporting features not there

  • Not best-suited for complex project management

  • Only Kanban board view available and a table view offered in beta


Trello: Pricing

Trello platform offers three pricing options:

  • Free option

  • Business: $9.99 per user for each month

  • Enterprise: $17.50 per user for each month


8. Wrike

Wrike is another top Smartsheet competitor that is known as a high-quality project management tool. It’s easy-to-understand UI helps project managers gain quick insights and clarity into the project status and workload distribution. The tool offers customizable templates that enable you to kick-start and multiple integrations, several project views, such as Gantt charts, which enable smooth project and task management. However, the most unique feature of this Smartsheet alternative is its swift adoption of AI tools to aid users in populating task details much faster.


Wrike: Key Features and Pros

  • AI functionality to accelerate the admin tasks

  • Various project management tools

  • Reporting features

  • Free trial offered for 14 days

  • Mobile app for Android and iOS


Wrike: Cons

  • Outdated Gantt chart UI

  • Inadequate project reporting functionality

  • Non-friendly UI makes navigation tougher

  • User minimums increase the price


Wrike Pricing

  • Professional plan: $9.80 user for each month

  • Business plan: $24.80 user for each month


9. Jira

A holistic project management and bug tracking software which is primarily suited for Agile and Scrum teams, Jira is another top Smartsheet competitor. Unlike some other software, users can also leverage its open-source version for additional customizability. Read on to find out why this tool is on the list of the top Smartsheet competitors.


Jira: Key Features

  • Powerful Agile views along with Kanban and Scrum board

  • Custom workflow templates

  • Automated workflow function

  • Roadmaps to design a structure for projects

  • Powerful reporting tools such as Gantt chart and the velocity chart

  • Issue and bug tracking functionality


Jira: Pros

  • Advanced project management tool especially for Agile and Scrum management

  • Enables third-party integration

  • Offers highly customizable dashboards

  • Powerful mobile app

  • Suitable for managing larger and more complex enterprise projects


Jira: Cons

  • Tough setup and configuration process

  • Steep learning curve because of a complex UI

  • Expensive paid plan

  • Team collaboration features missing


Jira: Pricing

  • Free: For about 10 team member

  • Standard: $7 per user for each month with 250GB storage and up to 5,000 users

  • Premium: $14 per user for each month with unlimited storage and up to 5,000 users


10. nTask

This tool caters to businesses of all industries and sizes and is primarily focused on project and task management. Though nTask also brings meeting management and many other features with it, this Smartsheet competitor only enables you to create one task at a time and also has a recurring task option. What’s more? nTask offers a free option though it doesn’t have all the features in this version. The tool boasts easy-to-understand and helpful Gantt charts, comprehensive dashboard views and a calendar that enables resources to view their allocations, workflows, and schedules.

nTask: Key Features and Pros

  • Support is available in multiple languages

  • High-level and comprehensive dashboard

  • Offers a project management app for mobile users especially Android and iOS

  • Comes with a free trial of 14 days


nTask: Cons

  • Subpar user interface and overall functionality

  • Doesn’t offer project dashboards like Smartsheet

  • Not suitable for larger projects


nTask Pricing

  • Premium: $3 user per month

  • Business: $8 user per month



eResource Scheduler – Top-Rated Resource Management Tool and Best-in-Class Smartsheet Alternative

Though Smartsheet is a good solution for project management, if you want a tool that can also help you ace resource management, time-tracking, resource utilization, and a lot more, go for the top-rated Smartsheet competitor, eResource Scheduler. Not only does it streamline your project and resource management processes, but it also enables you to manage staffing, work allocation, utilization tracking, skill mapping, and finding the best-fit people for each project. That’s not all! eResource Scheduler also gives you a lot of clarity with the real-time visibility of all the team members and projects in the business. It also assures to uplift your resource utilization anywhere between 18 to 30%. Think of load leveling across several resources, perfect scheduling estimates based on earlier actuals, or accurate hiring plans – this cloud-based tool does it all for you! Still thinking? Nail a perfect resource and project plan with this top-rated tool. But before that – get a free trial to check out the benefits and features.

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CEO & Founder
Rudraksh Vyas
Rudraksh Vyas, an accomplished CEO at ENBRAUN since 2011, has a proven track record in leading and growing technology-driven businesses. His expertise lies in product development, client management, and implementing effective business strategies, ensuring robust financial and resource management. Prior to his current role, Rudraksh honed his skills in business development, where he excelled in account management and export marketing. He holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute and an MBA in International Business from the University of Technology Sydney. Rudraksh's journey reflects a deep commitment to excellence and innovation in the tech industry, making him a respected leader and visionary in his field.

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