Project Management Software · Tool Face-Off

ClickUp vs Smartsheet

Quick answer

ClickUp is the Swiss Army knife for teams who want everything in one (sometimes overwhelming) place; Smartsheet is the spreadsheet-native powerhouse that enterprise ops and PMO teams swear by.

Our pick

ClickUp

One app to replace them all — and your sanity.

4.3★

Smartsheet

Excel grew up and got a project manager.

3.7★

Free Plan

Yes — unlimited tasks, 100MB storage

No — 30-day trial only

Starting Price

$7/seat/mo (Unlimited plan)

~$9/seat/mo (Pro plan, min 3 seats)

Views Available

15+ (List, Board, Gantt, Calendar, Timeline, Map, Mind Map…)

6 (Grid, Gantt, Card, Calendar, Timeline, Report)

Native Spreadsheet Feel

Basic table view only

Core experience — feels like Excel with superpowers

Automations (Free/Entry tier)

100/mo on free; 1,000/mo on Unlimited

250/mo on Pro plan

Gantt Charts

Included in Unlimited ($7+)

Included in all paid plans

Enterprise / Gov Compliance

SOC 2, GDPR — solid but less enterprise-focused

SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP, ISO 27001 — enterprise-grade

Native Time Tracking

Yes — built in

No — requires integration

Dashboards / Reporting

Drag-and-drop dashboards on paid plans

Robust reports & cross-sheet rollups out of the box

AI Features

ClickUp AI add-on (~$5/seat/mo)

Smartsheet AI included in higher tiers

Mobile App Quality

Good — most features accessible

Functional but limited vs. desktop

Guest / External Users

Free guests on paid plans

External collaborators need a license or paid guest seat

ClickUp

Pricing★★★★½

Support★★★½☆

Features★★★★★

Ease of Use★★★☆☆

Integrations★★★★½

Collaboration★★★★½

Customization★★★★★

Smartsheet

Pricing★★★☆☆

Support★★★★½

Features★★★★☆

Ease of Use★★★½☆

Integrations★★★★☆

Collaboration★★★½☆

Customization★★★½☆

Worth knowing

ClickUp has 10M+ users and adds roughly 20+ new features every quarter — sometimes too fast to keep docs updated.
Smartsheet processes over 1 billion rows of data monthly across its enterprise customer base.
ClickUp's free plan is genuinely usable — unlimited tasks and members make it rare among competitors.
Smartsheet is FedRAMP authorized, making it one of the few PM tools trusted by U.S. federal agencies.
Both tools integrate with Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Zapier.

ClickUp once promised to 'save 1 day per week per person' — bold enough that productivity influencers made entire YouTube series trying to prove or debunk it.

If you want

You want the most features for the lowest price

ClickUp's free and $7/seat tiers pack an absurd amount of functionality — Gantt, time tracking, docs, goals, and 15+ views included.

→ Pick ClickUp

If you want

Your team lives in spreadsheets and needs enterprise compliance

Smartsheet's grid-first interface and FedRAMP/HIPAA certifications make it the safe, familiar choice for regulated industries.

→ Pick Smartsheet

If you want

You run a large PMO with complex cross-project reporting

Smartsheet's cross-sheet formulas, rollup reports, and portfolio dashboards are purpose-built for multi-project oversight.

→ Pick Smartsheet