Notion vs Smartsheet comparison

Notion and Smartsheet are both solutions in the Project Management Software category. Notion is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.1, while Smartsheet is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.7. Notion holds a 2.1% mindshare in PMS, compared to Smartsheet’s 5.2% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Notion users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Smartsheet users who would recommend it.

Notion

Read 11 Notion reviews

320 Views
224 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Smartsheet

Read 40 Smartsheet reviews

4,616 Views
1,518 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Notion

Smartsheet

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Smartsheet and Notion are prominent in the project management and organizational tools category. Smartsheet holds an advantage for complex project management due to its advanced features like Gantt charts and integrations.

Features: Smartsheet offers project management tools like Gantt charts, automation, and seamless integrations with platforms such as Jira and Microsoft Teams. It is highly customizable, making it akin to an advanced version of Excel. Notion provides a versatile platform for organizing notes and databases, emphasizing high customization, making it ideal for personal and team organization.

Room for Improvement: Smartsheet's areas for improvement include dashboard usability, concerns about security, and streamlining its single sign-on process. Users also suggest adding more Excel-like functions. Notion requires enhancements in its user interface, integrated charting abilities, and improved external connectivity, with suggested improvements in automation features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Smartsheet predominantly relies on public cloud solutions but supports hybrid deployments. Customer service feedback is varied, with enterprise users finding it satisfactory, although others report inconsistencies. Notion provides options for both on-premises and cloud deployment, with technical support that is generally regarded as satisfactory, supported by extensive documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Smartsheet is perceived as expensive, especially for enterprise-focused features like Control Center, with tiered licensing offering varied value perceptions. ROI often relates to time savings and increased productivity. Notion, more budget-friendly, offers a generous free plan and competitive team pricing, ideal for simple task management and collaborative note-sharing.

To learn more, read our detailed Notion vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Notion vs. Smartsheet

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Notion

Ranking in Project Management Software

15th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Knowledge Management Software (5th), Document Automation Software (4th)

Smartsheet

Ranking in Project Management Software

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Portfolio Management (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Notion is 2.1%, up from 0.3% 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

Omotosho Andrea

Bubble Expert || Notion Expert at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria

Versatile productivity tool that requires commitment and a learning curve

I have experience using both Asana and Notion and when it comes to choosing between the two, I find myself leaning more towards Notion. While Asana is undoubtedly a good tool, I have some reservations about its design and interface. Notion, on the other hand, has a great design and interface. Asana is effective for task management, but I didn't connect with it as much, since I didn't use it extensively. My experience with Notion has been different and I quickly grasped its capabilities and enjoyed the learning process. It encourages a more technical approach with features like formulas and the ability to create customized databases, which I appreciate. It allows users to bring their ideas to life without being limited by pre-defined structures.

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Asma Ali

Project Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Notion is a great tool for note-keeping and note-sharing."

"The product is easy to use and has good responsiveness."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its flexibility...The initial setup of Notion is easy."

"The product is easy to use and has good responsiveness."

"I like the high level of customization in Notion."

"Notion has a lot of integrations."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The ability to create and organize notes, plans, and technical content in a single platform is the product's most valuable feature."

More Notion pros

"I like that Smartsheet integrates Excel with a cloud-based project management software."

"If you just need a planning tool, it's a low-cost and effective option."

"The dashboard feature is the most valuable aspect of the solution."

"For doing project plans what was really valuable is the ability to do a predecessor."

"The product is easy to use."

"As I am in the corporate legal department, I have to deal with a number of contracts and sometimes it's hard to keep up with email transactions. Having the tracker sheet and being able to build dashboards and workflow has been quite valuable."

"The deployment is very easy. All you need to do is log in."

"The solution is straightforward. Whenever a requirement arises, we create three things in Smartsheet: a project plan, a dashboard, and internal documents. It is done through the form and Smartsheet's automation services. This process shortens the time to market from seven days to less than 12 hours."

More Smartsheet pros

Cons

"The platform's documentation feature needs improvement."

"The product could be integrated with external platforms."

"There could be an automation feature included in the product."

"Notion's UI could be better."

"Notion's UI needs improvement."

"It can be difficult to contact the people at Notion."

"Adding more color options to the application would enhance its usability and flexibility, allowing users to better customize their content"

"There could be an automation feature included in the product."

More Notion cons

"They provide a limited number of sheets which is not enough."

"Maybe the solution could be a little bit more flexible."

"Smartsheet could be improved to be a ticketing system. It would be nice to have a system to do everything."

"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 should continue to expand the spreadsheet-type functionality because it's limited currently. Most business users are familiar with Excel and Office, so Smartsheet should adopt a similar way of navigating the program."

"Smartsheet could improve by having seamless integration with Azure Board."

"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."

"It already has a really powerful Export to Excel feature, but it can have an Excel add-on. The way to set up single sign-on wasn't too easy in the beginning, and it was hard to get hold of customer service. They should make it easier to set up SSO. Smartsheet's customer service also definitely needs to be improved."

More Smartsheet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing structure is quite reasonable, and the basic plan covers the most essential features."

"I rate the product's pricing a three out of ten. We only need to pay for it if we use it in the workspace."

"The product is affordable compared to other platforms."

"The product has good pricing."

"It's pretty affordable."

"Notion offers a free plan that covers most functionalities. Clients are only prompted to upgrade if they require AI capabilities, priced at $10 for unlimited usage, or if they need to add team members, typically around $10 per member."

"The product has good pricing."

"The solution's pricing can seem steep, especially when you work with a lot of people. If you are working on your own or for another business, the solution's price won't affect you much."

More Notion pricing and cost advice

"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."

"There would be more extensive usage if the solution were cheaper. It's really expensive right now, and that's why we provide a few licenses for admins. The rest of them are just users without admin privileges."

"For a normal license, like the one I had: I had my own Smartsheet because I wanted to play with it and I didn't want to mess with what I was doing in Verizon, so I paid $200 monthly, and it gave me all the same functionalities, so I could do whatever I wanted for $200. The problem is if you have anyone else working on it or deploying on it, it's $200 a month for every single person who's deployed on it, that's working on it as an owner or an administrator, so owners and administrators are the only ones who can change, edit, and add data to worksheets and columns. Depending on the size of your organization, Smartsheet can be costly. As for implementing its Control Center, Smartsheet forces you to have three people come in: it's a minimum of three people from Smartsheet for three months who will provide you the solutions for the Control Center side, and that's $150 an hour, so it can become very expensive. For my company, not having the Control Center would save on the setup fees and then the $20,000 a year, because the Control Center of Smartsheet is a yearly subscription of $20,000."

"The solution is reasonably priced."

"The solution is expensive."

"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."

"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."

"There's a trial version and a free version. Each license costs a decent amount, $25 per month or something."

More Smartsheet pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

43%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Notion?

I like the high level of customization in Notion.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Notion?

For companies, it's a good price. For a single person or student, it might be a little expensive.

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What needs improvement with Notion?

It can be difficult to contact the people at Notion. They don't provide a formal answer, just tutorials, so their customer service could be better.

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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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Project vs Notion

Compared 20% of the time

Zoho Projects vs Notion

Compared 19% of the time

Zendesk vs Notion

Compared 15% of the time

Wrike vs Notion

Compared 12% of the time

Bitrix24 vs Notion

Compared 11% of the time

More Notion Competitors

ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management vs Smartsheet

Compared 16% of the time

Planisware vs Smartsheet

Compared 13% of the time

Broadcom Clarity vs Smartsheet

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Project vs Smartsheet

Compared 12% of the time

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Product Reports

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Notion

December 2024

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Buyer's Guide

Smartsheet

November 2024

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Notion

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Smartsheet

Overview

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that enables teams to collaborate, organize, and manage their work effectively. Its primary use case is to streamline project management, knowledge sharing, and task tracking. With its versatile functionality, Notion allows users to create and customize databases, wikis, and documents, making it a powerful tool for organizing information.

The most valuable functionality of Notion lies in its flexibility and ease of use. Users can create and link various types of content, such as text, images, files, and even embed external resources. This enables teams to centralize their work and collaborate seamlessly, eliminating the need for multiple tools. Notion's drag-and-drop interface and intuitive editing features make it accessible to users of all technical backgrounds.

Notion helps organizations by fostering transparency, improving productivity, and enhancing knowledge management. By providing a centralized platform for collaboration, teams can easily access and contribute to shared projects, reducing communication gaps and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Notion's powerful search functionality and tagging system enable efficient information retrieval, making it easier to find and share knowledge within the organization.

Smartsheet is a dynamic platform with features like real-time data sharing, Gantt charts, and integration with Jira and Microsoft Teams, offering valuable tools for efficient task management.

Smartsheet combines Excel-like functionality with cloud accessibility, making it efficient for tracking, reporting, and workflow management. Users benefit from its scalability and robust security, making it ideal for enterprise-level projects. However, improvements in data visibility, real-time collaboration, and user-friendliness can enhance its utility. Customizable dashboards, project management features, and seamless integrations offer great flexibility, though there is a demand for better automation, API enhancements, and new templates.

What are Smartsheet's most important features?

Real-time Data Sharing: Facilitates seamless collaboration between users.
Project Management Tools: Includes Gantt charts and task prioritization for efficient project tracking.
Integration: Works with major platforms like Jira and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive data flow.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces manual work with robust automation functionalities.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to tailor dashboards to meet specific needs.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlines workflows with tools that enhance project tracking and collaboration.
Scalability: Supports growing enterprise demands with its scalable architecture.
Security: Provides robust, secure environments for data management.
Adaptability: Offers flexibility to customize workflows for improved resource management.

Smartsheet is utilized by organizations in industries like engineering, education, and IT for project management, task tracking, and data integration. It enables planning, scheduling, and team collaboration, facilitating dashboard creation and automation of processes. Its flexibility in customizing workflows is appealing to those managing projects and programs.

Sample Customers

Startups like Loom, Mixpanel, Blinkist, Adobe, Deel and Education facilities such as USC, Dartmouth and The University of Chicago.

Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix

Buyer's Guide

Notion vs. Smartsheet

December 2024

Free Report: Notion vs. Smartsheet

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