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Microsoft Project 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Project boosts ROI by optimizing resources, streamlining tasks, enhancing transparency, and reducing time and costs effectively.
Sentiment score
7.3
Smartsheet streamlines operations, reduces administrative tasks, enhances collaboration, and boosts productivity with an easy-to-use, cost-effective interface.
Microsoft Project does help save time and money due to its completeness as a project management solution.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Project support varies; users often prefer community resources and documentation over official channels, citing responsiveness challenges.
Sentiment score
7.4
Smartsheet's customer support is praised for responsiveness and resources but criticized for ticket tracking and lacks phone/chat options.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Project is adaptable and scalable, supporting large organizations despite potential challenges with integration and licensing.
Sentiment score
7.6
Smartsheet excels in scalability and integration but faces challenges with large tasks, depending on user proficiency and adoption.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Project is stable for small to medium projects but may encounter issues with complex dependencies and large plans.
Sentiment score
8.1
Users praise Smartsheet's stability and reliability, noting minor issues that don't significantly affect their overall satisfaction.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Project requires usability, integration, and customization improvements, focusing on templates, collaboration, reporting, interface, stability, and automation.
Smartsheet requires UI improvements, better integrations, enhanced functionality, and increased user-friendliness, with superior training and support.
Microsoft Project tends to become very unstable on large project plans with more than 400 lines.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Project offers flexible pricing, seen as affordable by some and expensive by others, with options for cost management.
Smartsheet offers flexible pricing with various plans, seen as cost-effective compared to competitors, with customizable features and support.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Project offers scheduling, cost management, and integration features, making it versatile and efficient for diverse project management needs.
Smartsheet excels with cloud accessibility, real-time collaboration, and robust integrations, offering customizable project management and intuitive interfaces.
This tool is the most accurate project management tool, allowing me to run a full set of project activities without having to switch between different tools for scheduling and other tasks.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Project
Ranking in Project Management Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
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
40
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft Project is 8.9%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 5.2%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

Md.  Kamruzzaman - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that very accurately runs projects
Project availability and speed could always be improved. Most of the time, we get the target from the system. If there is a chance to improve the interface, then it should be implemented. Otherwise, our end users are satisfied with using our own interface. Reports could be pushed more quickly.
Asma Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, simple to set up, and great for non co-located environments
At one point we were trying to use it to organize a curriculum for students to just have the weekly stuff. We kind of ran into trouble doing this. It's not really designed for that. What we were trying to do is give them a real-time syllabus with pre-readings and activities and stuff embedded. It ended up getting really complicated. They also had access, and while there’s probably a way to not give them access, I didn’t know how to set that. I just wanted to let them download. It got complex. It wasn’t just people updating what they were working on. It was something else and it didn’t work. If there was some way to store more complex files in the system, or if there was a back-end structure where you could store files, that would be ideal. We use Box to store recordings, for example, of sessions and stuff. We’d like to store it in this solution. We already integrate Smartsheet into Teams for updates and stuff. That works well.
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Answers from the Community

Eire Zimmermann - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2022
Aug 3, 2022
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 modern automation and low-code capabilities that you will see in many SaaS PM tools today (Smartsheet, Asana, Workfront, etc.). Being able to add simple automation with logic like, "If 'Project Status'...
2 out of 4 answers
EB
Jun 23, 2022
Hi @Deborah Gamelin, @Donee Damore, @Ian Herzing ​and @Andrea Bracken, Can you please chime in and share your thoughts/advice with @Eire Zimmermann?​  Thanks.​
Ian Herzing - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 23, 2022
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 modern automation and low-code capabilities that you will see in many SaaS PM tools today (Smartsheet, Asana, Workfront, etc.). Being able to add simple automation with logic like, "If 'Project Status' = 'Red', then Alert XYZ Stakeholder" is made simple with Smartsheet. With this type of low-code functionality, you can begin to remove that robotic, manual work of typing up emails and sending messages from your day-to-day. Moreover, Smartsheet's reporting capabilities are something that I have yet to see any other PM tool on the market compete with. Think reports for important launch dates, milestones, past due tasks, or at-risk items.  Then when you add the capabilities of the Smartsheet's logic-driven forms for project intake, you really have a system that can become a pseudo-ERP/workforce management tool. Not to mention Smartsheet's cost is much lower compared to MS Project since you only pay for licenses that manipulate data. Hope this helps in some regard, Ian
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
67%
Computer Software Company
4%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Government
3%
Educational Organization
43%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 Microsoft Project?
The product's initial setup phase is easy.
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.
What needs improvement with Smartsheet?
Although I can't pinpoint anything specific right now, there is always room for improvement. Initially, there were issues like dropdowns. Those have been overcome.
 

Also Known As

Project Pro, MS Project
No data available
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aston Martin, ABANCA, Airbus Group, Capita, Cardiff University, City of Saskatoon, Intel, Pegasus Airlines, South Australia Power Network (SAPN), Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing
Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.