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ClickUp vs Smartsheet comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ClickUp
Ranking in Project Management Software
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Smartsheet
Ranking in Project Management Software
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of ClickUp is 2.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 4.6%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

VarchasSubrahmanya - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that offers it users a choice to opt for a streamlined approach to task management
From a product management function perspective, it can be challenging to measure whether ClickUp improves efficiency on a month-to-month basis. However, I believe that using ClickUp helps maintain our efficiency levels. If we were to stop using it, I am 100% sure that our efficiency would decrease. That being said, just because we are using ClickUp does not automatically mean our efficiency will increase. We have reached a point where we understand how to use ClickUp effectively, and without it, it would definitely be a problem. However, using it alone does not make us better every day. The absence of ClickUp would definitely cause a problem. But, since we are using ClickUp, we don't get to improve 10% on a month-by-month or a year-on-year basis. So, that's very difficult to measure. Introducing automation and AI would greatly benefit ClickUp by reducing manual work. Currently, team members need to update tasks and communicate issues, which requires me to read through each task and comment to understand the situation. However, if AI could assist in making faster decisions, it would greatly improve efficiency. I need to intervene at a minute level to discover if someone is facing a problem, but AI could help detect issues faster. The success of AI implementation can be seen in how ChatGPT has utilized AI.
PaulDiaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating
I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The tool is pretty intuitive."
"The most interesting feature is the ability to share what you are working on with an external entity. The customer has direct visibility on what is being done on a particular project and this provides a lot of transparency."
"ClickUp offers a relatively user-friendly experience, especially when it comes to its fundamental features."
"I am currently exploring ClickUp AI, which I think is very good."
"We found it very simple and intuitive to use...The initial setup is straightforward."
"The simplicity of the tool is valuable because it has categories and subcategories."
"The most valuable feature of ClickUp is the UI scheduling tool. It is the best and most convenient and attractive."
"It gives reminders for important project dates and when a particular task is about to close."
"To me, one of the most powerful features of Smartsheet is being able to email others."
"This solution provides easy collaboration and allows non-building users to use the system without requiring a license."
"If you just need a planning tool, it's a low-cost and effective option."
"Enables coordination and sharing of information that is relatively inexpensive."
"What I found most valuable in Smartsheet is its project customization feature. It's a great solution because you can add in your own WBS. You can see it in Jira style, Kanban, and you can even do Agile and Waterfall. Another feature that's valuable in the solution is when you have those connections, you have that API, you have a sandbox, and you can make a solution, it's a tremendous product because you can pull data."
"The dashboard and the layouts are quite good."
"The solution is scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Smartsheet is its intuitiveness, ease of use, and overall simplicity."
 

Cons

"There is a need for significant improvement in the user interface to make it more intuitive and less time-consuming to become familiar with."
"I would love to see ClickUp integrated with more tools, possibly like Microsoft Loop."
"The product is not user-friendly."
"More automation features must be added."
"It would be good if the solution facilitated voice calls or an option to chat directly with a person on ClickUp."
"Introducing automation and AI would greatly benefit ClickUp by reducing manual work."
"They should explain better how costs and licensing are distributed."
"The solution's user interface is complex and has a steep learning curve. You can't easily find the features that you are looking for."
"Areas for improvement in Smartsheet include better integration capabilities with other technologies through APIs and addressing limitations in reporting functionalities."
"The downside of Smartsheet is that there are some security concerns. We were able to restrict people from sharing sheets with anyone who was not in our domain, but it could be easier. We also found it hard to restrict certain user groups from adding attachments to sheets."
"We have to manually put in every dependency in Smartsheet."
"A room for improvement I found in Smartsheet is the view, as it's currently row-wise. I should have the opportunity to view a full scale, top down list instead of just a column driven list. I shouldn't have to go just left or right. I should be able to view it top down."
"The main challenge with Smartsheet is that when you start putting components on the Smartsheet dashboard, they don't know about each other. So, if I filter something in one widget, or if I click on a region or a project ID, the other widget or component and the visualization that's on that dashboard don't change. It doesn't know about the other component."
"Smartsheet is a cloud-based tool similar to Google Sheets in that multiple stakeholders can work on a document simultaneously. However, unlike Google Sheets, which saves changes in real time, Smartsheet requires users to manually save their changes."
"An area for improvement in Smartsheet is that if you're in the government or you're a regulated customer, you're not allowed to use APIs due to internal restrictions, so there are specific things that you cannot connect to it. Another area for improvement in the solution is that because there's a capacity of how many records you can have, and there's a capacity of how many functions you can apply, Smartsheet has set up their system where they can force people into purchasing a $20,000 additional module that is called Control Center, that will create documents for them on the fly, so they don't use so many functions and automation. Smartsheet also needs to improve on training, because the training that is out there is very little. The solution requires a steeper learning curve. You have to do your own training and you have to work on your own solution."
"The long-term timelines could be improved, especially the visuals on the projection Gantt chart."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"ClickUp is affordable."
"I use the free version."
"I don't have a lot of information about the pricing, but I know that it is fairly inexpensive."
"The product’s cost is high."
"The price of ClickUp is reasonable. The price is approximately eight dollars per month per person."
"ClickUp’s pricing is better than Jira Align’s."
"The product has good pricing."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. I was responsible for negotiating the price with the Smartsheet team, but I don't remember what the price was. Its standard license probably was around 5,000 to 6,000 a year. The enterprise version is significantly more expensive."
"Smartsheet has many licensing models. You need to add the package that best suits your requirements. The license is paid per user and it is monthly. The cost was approximately $7 per PC, $15 for professional, and $33 for the enterprise plan."
"I would assume there is a licensing fee. I don't think that it is free."
"There's a license for Smartsheet, and the enterprise plan comes down to about $750. My company also pays an extra $60 monthly apart from the standard licensing fee."
"Smartsheet can be low-priced, with personal subscriptions around eight dollars a month, but I imagine it gets pricier for enterprise systems. Microsoft Project can be more expensive."
"I believe a licensed user costs between 300 to 400 euros."
"If I'm not mistaken, it was pretty manageable. It was about 200 bucks a seed. The business really felt a strong need for it. So, it was viewed as a safer and more straightforward cost that we were willing to pay as compared to Domo, which took some convincing."
"The solution is reasonably priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Healthcare Company
14%
University
7%
Media Company
6%
Educational Organization
42%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ClickUp?
Everything in one place is the biggest benefit. I also like the diagramming tools, where you can create DFDs, structure charts, and more. That makes things easier.
What needs improvement with ClickUp?
They should explain better how costs and licensing are distributed. They auto take money from the credit card without notification for a while.
Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?
Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...
What do you like most about Smartsheet?
The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?
The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about ClickUp vs. Smartsheet and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,625 professionals have used our research since 2012.