Is Smartsheet Worth $9/Month in 2026? My Take

Is Smartsheet Worth It?

★★★★★ 4.4/5

Quick Verdict: Smartsheet is one of the best enterprise work management platforms for teams that love spreadsheets. It combines a familiar spreadsheet layout with strong automation and reporting tools. If you manage projects across departments, Smartsheet delivers real value. But it has a steep learning curve and no free plan.

✅ Best For:

Teams and organizations that need to manage complex projects, tasks, and workflows at scale across multiple departments

❌ Skip If:

You want a free plan, need a simple task app, or prefer visual boards over spreadsheet-style project views

📊 Customers	123,000+ companies	🎯 Best For	Enterprise work management
💰 Price	$9/user/month	✅ Top Feature	Spreadsheet-style project tracking
🎁 Free Trial	30 days (Business plan)	⚠️ Limitation	Steep learning curve

How I Tested Smartsheet

Tired of juggling projects across five different apps?

Your team uses email for updates. A spreadsheet for tracking. A chat app for questions. Nothing connects.

Enter Smartsheet.

I tested this collaborative work management platform for 90 days. In this review, I’ll share exactly what happened.

Smartsheet

Stop managing projects across scattered tools. Smartsheet gives you one place for tasks, calendars, dashboards, and automation. Trusted by 85% of Fortune 500 companies. Try it free for 30 days.

TRY SMARTSHEET NOW →

What is Smartsheet?

Smartsheet is a cloud-based work management and collaboration platform. It helps teams plan, track, and manage projects of any size.

Think of it like Excel meets project management software.

You get a spreadsheet interface that feels familiar. But it also has Gantt charts, automation, and dashboards built in.

Smartsheet uses a tabular user interface to assign tasks, track project progress, manage calendars, and share documents.

It combines some functionality of Microsoft Project, Excel, Access, and SharePoint in one place.

Unlike basic spreadsheets, Smartsheet enables real-time collaboration. Your team can comment, attach files, and get notifications all in one row.

It’s designed for small and large teams. Businesses in industries like construction, marketing, IT, and operations use it every day.

Who Created Smartsheet?

Brent Frei and Eric Browne started Smartsheet in 2005. Frei is the founder who built it after selling his prior company, Onyx Software. Early funding came from investors like Insight Partners and Madrona Venture Group. They raised $121 million total.

Mark Mader served as CEO from 2006 through September 2025. He led the company for almost 20 years. You can still find him on LinkedIn sharing lessons about leadership.

Today, Rajeev Singh is the CEO. He took over in October 2025. Singh is the co-founder of Concur, a company SAP bought for $8.3 billion.

In January 2025, Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone bought Smartsheet for $8.4 billion. The company is now private.

Smartsheet Inc is based in Bellevue, Seattle. It has over 3,000 employees and customers in 190 countries. The platform is available in multiple languages, including Spanish.

Millions of users trust it every day. That includes over 85% of the Fortune 500. No matter your industry, Smartsheet can help.

In 2025, Smartsheet was named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Collaborative Work Management for the third year in a row.

Top Benefits of Smartsheet

Here’s what you actually get when you use Smartsheet:

• One Place for Everything: Manage tasks, timelines, resources, and documents in one centralized workspace. No more switching between apps to find what you need.
• Save Hours Each Week: Automation handles boring, repetitive tasks. Set rules once and let Smartsheet do the rest. Users report saving 5-10 hours per week on manual updates.
• Better Team Visibility: Real-time dashboards give you an executive-level view of project health. You always know the priority and status of every task.
• Easier Cross-Team Collaboration: Teams across departments can collaborate on the same sheets. File sharing, commenting, and real-time updates keep everyone aligned. It enhances productivity, accountability, and cross-departmental collaboration.
• Works With Tools You Already Use: Smartsheet integrates with Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Dropbox, and Amazon Web Services. You can import data from Microsoft Office or Google applications easily.
• Scale Without Breaking: Whether you have 5 users or 5,000, it works. Smartsheet is designed to act as a single source of truth for complex, data-heavy projects across organizations.
• Smarter Decisions with AI: In 2026, Smartsheet features integrated AI that can auto-generate formulas from natural language and provide predictive analytics. It helps you focus on strategy, not data entry.

Best Smartsheet Features

Here are the standout features Smartsheet offers. Join thousands of teams who already use them every day.

1. Project Manager

This is where Smartsheet shines the most.

You can create sheets that track every task, deadline, and resource in one view. Each smartsheet can have its rows expanded or collapsed to see individual tasks or large-scale project progress.

Assign tasks, set dates, and track who’s doing what. It’s perfect for aligning people and keeping projects on schedule.

You can switch between grid, Gantt, calendar view, and board views. This gives you full visibility into deadlines and priorities.

Each row may have files attached to it, emails stored within it, and a discussion board tied to it.

2. Event Manager

Planning events is stressful. Smartsheet makes it easier.

Use calendars and timeline views to map out every detail. Track vendors, deadlines, and budgets in one sheet.

Your team gets notifications when a task deadline is approaching. No more missed deadlines or forgotten details.

It’s great for marketing teams, event planners, and operations departments that need to coordinate across many people.

3. Product Developer

Building a product? Smartsheet helps you manage the entire workflow.

Create sheets for each phase of development. Link them together for a full picture.

You can track bugs, feature requests, and release dates all in one spot. The integration with tools like Jira makes it even more powerful.

Product teams use it to drive innovation and deliver on time.

4. IT Portfolio Management

IT departments juggle many projects at once. Smartsheet helps you manage them all.

You get portfolio-level dashboards that show the health of every project. You can visualize resource allocation and spot problems early.

Smartsheet offers strong administrative controls and user permissions to ensure enterprise-grade security. This is essential for IT teams dealing with sensitive data.

It also integrates with Microsoft Azure for cloud-based technology teams.

5. Business PMO

A Project Management Office needs reporting. Smartsheet delivers it.

Build real-time dashboards that offer executive-level visibility into project health and ROI. Share them with stakeholders in seconds.

Smartsheet provides alerts for when a task deadline is approaching and keeps track of document versions. It helps PMOs achieve consistent reporting across the company.

You can manage projects and portfolios from one central page.

6. Marketing Management

Marketing teams run dozens of campaigns at once. Smartsheet keeps them organized.

Track content calendars, campaign deadlines, and budget allocation in one place. Use automation to send reminders and update statuses.

Smartsheet supports collaboration through file sharing, commenting, and real-time updates among team members.

Marketing departments love the Gantt chart view for mapping out campaigns across the quarter.

7. Team Collaboration

Smartsheet isn’t just for managers. It’s built for entire teams.

Anyone can log in, comment on a row, and update their tasks. You can share sheets with people outside your company too.

Smartsheet integrates with Microsoft Teams to enhance collaboration. You can receive notifications and reminders as direct messages.

You can even add sheets, dashboards, and reports as Tabs in a Microsoft Teams channel. This makes sharing information across teams simple.

8. No Code Work

You don’t need to be a developer to build workflows.

Smartsheet lets you create automations, forms, and reports without writing any code. It’s a no-code work management tool that anyone can use.

Set up rules like: “When a task is marked complete, notify the manager.” It takes minutes, not hours.

This is a game changer for teams that want automation without a big technology investment.

9. Project & Portfolios

Need to see the big picture? This feature is for you.

View all your projects in one dashboard. Track progress, budgets, and deadlines across your entire portfolio.

Smartsheet is effective for managing schedules, budgets, and task allocations in construction, marketing, and IT industries.

It’s used across industries to standardize processes from simple task tracking to complex portfolio management. This makes it essential for organizations that need to scale.

Smartsheet Pricing

Free trial: Yes — 30 days with access to Business plan features. No credit card needed.

Money-back guarantee: No official refund policy. But the free trial lets you test everything first.

Is Smartsheet Worth the Price?

For teams that manage complex projects, yes. The features that are most essential for project management will lead users to the most expensive Smartsheet subscriptions. But the value is there.

The Pro plan at $9/user/month is cheaper than most competitors. Monday.com starts at $12/user/month. Wrike starts at $10/user/month.

You’ll save money if: You replace multiple tools with Smartsheet. It can handle project tracking, reporting, and collaboration in one service.

You might overpay if: You’re a solo user or small team that just needs a simple task list. Users need to purchase add-ons for hundreds of dollars over the basic plan pricing to access resource management and capacity planning features.

Smartsheet Pros and Cons

✅ What I Liked

❌ What Could Be Better

Is Smartsheet Right for You?

✅ Smartsheet is PERFECT for you if:

• You manage projects across multiple departments or teams
• You need strong reporting and real-time dashboards for leadership
• You want a spreadsheet-style tool with project management built in
• You already use Microsoft Teams, Office 365, or Salesforce and need integration

❌ Skip Smartsheet if:

• You need a free plan (try ClickUp or Notion instead)
• You prefer visual Kanban boards over spreadsheet views
• You’re a solo user who just needs a simple to-do list app

My recommendation:

If you manage 3+ projects with a team of 5+ people, Smartsheet is worth every dollar. It’s the leader in collaborative work management for a reason.

But if you’re a freelancer or solo user, look at Notion or ClickUp first. They offer free plans and simpler workflows.

Smartsheet vs Alternatives

How does Smartsheet stack up? Here’s the competitive landscape:

Quick picks:

• Best overall: Smartsheet — best for enterprise teams that need scale and security
• Best budget option: ClickUp — free plan with unlimited tasks and powerful features
• Best for beginners: Monday.com — visual boards that are easy to learn in minutes
• Best for docs + tasks: Notion — combines notes, wikis, and project tracking in one

🎯 Smartsheet Alternatives

Looking for Smartsheet alternatives? Here are the top options:

• 🌟 Monday.com: The most visual work management tool. Great for teams that prefer boards over spreadsheets with strong automation.
• 💰 ClickUp: Offers a free plan with unlimited tasks. Best all-in-one tool for teams on a budget who still need power features.
• 🏢 Wrike: Built for enterprise cross-team collaboration. Strong Gantt charts, proofing, and advanced reporting.
• 🔧 Airtable: A database-style tool that’s perfect for custom workflows. Great for creative teams and data-heavy projects.
• 🧠 Notion: Combines docs, wikis, and task management in one flexible workspace. Best for teams that value knowledge sharing.

⚔️ Smartsheet Compared

Here’s how Smartsheet stacks up against each competitor:

• Smartsheet vs Monday.com: Smartsheet wins on reporting and enterprise features. Monday.com wins on ease of use and visual design.
• Smartsheet vs ClickUp: ClickUp offers more for free. Smartsheet is better for large organizations that need scale and security.
• Smartsheet vs Wrike: Both target enterprise teams. Smartsheet has a more familiar spreadsheet interface. Wrike has better resource management.
• Smartsheet vs Airtable: Airtable is more flexible for custom databases. Smartsheet is stronger for traditional project management.
• Smartsheet vs Notion: Notion is better for docs and knowledge bases. Smartsheet is better for managing tasks and workflows at scale.

My Experience with Smartsheet

Here’s what actually happened when I used Smartsheet:

The project: I managed 4 client projects across marketing, content, and web development. I needed one place to track everything.

Timeline: 90 days of daily use.

Results:

What surprised me: The automation was more powerful than I expected. I set up rules to move tasks between sheets automatically. It felt like I had a virtual assistant handling the boring stuff.

What frustrated me: The first two weeks were rough. Not gonna lie, the learning curve was real. I spent hours watching tutorials. Smartsheet’s project views are considered less dynamic than some alternatives like Monday.com.

Would I use it again? Yes. After the initial setup, it became the one tool I opened every morning. It’s now my single source of truth for all client work.

Final Thoughts

Get Smartsheet if: You manage multiple projects across teams and need one central place for everything.

Skip Smartsheet if: You’re a solo user or need a free tool. ClickUp or Notion will serve you better.

My verdict: After 90 days, I’m proud to say Smartsheet changed how I manage work. It’s not the cheapest tool. It’s not the easiest to learn. But it delivers real results.

Smartsheet is the leader in enterprise work management for a reason. If your company needs to align teams, automate workflows, and track everything in one spot today, this is the tool.

Rating: 4.4/5

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Smartsheet worth it?

Yes, if you manage projects with a team. Smartsheet is a cloud-based work management platform that helps teams plan and track work. It’s trusted by 123,000 customers and 85% of the Fortune 500. The value comes from replacing multiple tools with one platform.

How much does Smartsheet cost?

Smartsheet pricing starts at $9/user/month for the Pro plan (billed yearly). The Business plan costs $19/user/month. Enterprise and Advanced Work Management plans have custom pricing. There’s a free 30-day trial.

Is Smartsheet the same as Excel?

No. Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet but does much more. It has project management, automation, Gantt charts, and real-time collaboration. Smartsheet combines some functionality of Microsoft Project, Excel, Access, and SharePoint. Excel is a standalone spreadsheet software without built-in project management tools.

Is Smartsheet better than Monday.com?

It depends on your needs. Smartsheet is better for enterprise teams that need spreadsheet-style views and advanced reporting. Monday.com is better for visual thinkers who prefer boards. Smartsheet competes with Microsoft Project and Monday.com in the work management space.

Is Smartsheet hard to learn?

Smartsheet has a relatively simple user interface for basic tasks. But advanced features like automation and reporting take time. Expect 1-2 weeks to feel comfortable. The company offers tutorials, webinars, and a learning center to help new users get up to speed.