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project management software · Tool Face-Off

Jira vs Smartsheet

Quick answer

Jira owns the dev world; Smartsheet owns the spreadsheet-loving business side. Pick your tribe.

Our pick
Jira
The power tool for software teams who speak in sprints and epics.
4.1
VS
Smartsheet
Excel grew up, got a project manager, and became Smartsheet.
3.7
Free Plan
Yes — up to 10 users
No — 30-day trial only
Starting Price
~$8.15/user/month (Standard)
~$9/user/month (Pro)
Primary View
Kanban / Scrum boards
Grid (spreadsheet-style)
Gantt Charts
Add-on (BigGantt) or timeline view
Native, polished Gantt built-in
Agile / Sprint Planning
Best-in-class — backlogs, velocity, burndown
Basic card view, no native sprints
Automation
500–1,000 rule runs/month (Standard plan)
Unlimited automations on Pro+
Reporting & Dashboards
Good; advanced metrics on Premium+
Strong cross-sheet rollup dashboards
Storage
2 GB (Free), 250 GB (Standard)
20 GB (Pro), 1 TB (Business)
Guest / External Users
Limited without a paid seat
Free collaborators on paid plans
Dev Tool Integrations
GitHub, Bitbucket, CI/CD — native & deep
Available but shallow by comparison
Learning Curve
Steep — configure-everything approach
Gentle — feels like a familiar spreadsheet
Mobile App
Functional but not beloved
Cleaner UX, better field-team use

Jira

Pricing★★★½
Support★★★½
Features★★★★★
Reporting★★★★
Ease of Use★★½☆☆
Integrations★★★★★
Agile Support★★★★★

Smartsheet

Pricing★★★☆☆
Support★★★★
Features★★★★
Reporting★★★★½
Ease of Use★★★★
Integrations★★★★
Agile Support★★½☆☆

Worth knowing

Jira is named after 'Gojira' — the Japanese name for Godzilla. So yes, your bug tracker is literally named after a monster. Makes sense.

If you want

You run a software or engineering team using agile

Jira's sprint planning, backlog grooming, and dev integrations have no real peer in this category.

→ Pick Jira
If you want

You manage cross-functional business projects and your team lives in spreadsheets

Smartsheet's grid interface means zero retraining — your team will actually use it.

→ Pick Smartsheet
If you want

You need robust Gantt charts and resource planning without add-ons

Smartsheet's native Gantt and timeline tools are polished and require no marketplace hunting.

→ Pick Smartsheet
If you want

You want a powerful free plan to start with no credit card

Jira's free tier for up to 10 users is legitimate and fully functional for small dev teams.

→ Pick Jira
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