Project management solutions can be a lifesaver for organizing your projects and tasks, especially if the project is relatively complex. However, choosing the right project management tool can often be a rather arduous task. Especially when you consider that there are many promising options, each with unique strengths and features.
But when it comes to choosing a project management solution, we have to go beyond the shiny veneer and look for substance. The ideal tool should help you plan projects, assign tasks, manage resources, enable automated workflows, and ensure a balanced workload across your team.
That’s why we’ve picked two excellent project management tools known for being hands-on and getting the basics right. In this comparison, we will look at the pros and cons of Smartsheet vs. Microsoft Project, comparing the top features, pricing, and even customer reviews to help you pick the best option.
Smartsheet vs Microsoft Project: Which Project Management Tool is Best?
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is Smartsheet?
Smartsheet is a work management platform that uses a familiar spreadsheet interface to help you manage projects, assign tasks, and take care of multiple project portfolios. It combines the features of project management tools and Microsoft Excel functionalities and goes beyond.
Smartsheet lets you visualize historical data as charts, view your tasks in Gantt charts, and highlight essential tasks in your project timeline.
While Smartsheet excels in flexibility, it lacks the firepower to manage complex project functionalities like resource leveling and advanced reporting compared to some Smartsheet alternatives.
Smartsheet features
1. Automation
Automation workflows is a popular Smartsheet feature that lets you optimize repetitive and time-consuming processes. It has a no-code drag-and-drop UI to create one-time or recurring workflows by combining multiple actions and pathways. You can also set event or schedule-based triggers.
In addition, you can even use their collection of pre-built workflow templates for your project management tasks, including weekly status requests, due date reminders, and more. This also includes viewing and responding to updates from third-party tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack.
2. Workflow customization
Bridge by Smartsheet is a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to easily add workflow blocks and define workflow logic to fit a complex process flow. Using this, you can customize your workflows to your liking.
You can also create workflows with Smartsheet forms to collect data from internal and external stakeholders and save it directly to the spreadsheet. Quickly build a form with conditional logic, making your questions relevant to the person filling out the form. You can also use branding elements like colors, logos, GIFs, and images to personalize the form per your requirements.
Integrations with tools like AccuWeather, FedEx, Google Translate, Salesforce, SendGrid, ServiceNow, Microsoft SharePoint, and UPS Tracking, helping you tailor Smartsheet to your unique needs.
3. Content collaboration
You can work seamlessly with your team members, share feedback, and track real-time progress using Smartsheet content collaboration.
With chat and comment features, you can:
- Monitor and review processes from a project sheet
- Set alerts and reminders for your team members
- Allow colleagues or vendors/partners to review content without having to give them sheet access
- Simplify versioning with an automatic lock of old versions to ensure that you work only on the latest content
Smartsheet Pricing
- Free: Forever Free Plan
- Pro: $9 per user per month
- Business: $32 per user per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is Microsoft Project?
Microsoft Project, or MS Project, is a project management software offered along with the Microsoft Office bundle. You can use it to manage simple projects, create schedules, assign resources, and keep track of time. Advanced features such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, project calendars, and other views help you manage several small and large projects in one tool.
Although it has a steep learning curve compared to some Microsoft Project alternatives, it offers seamless connectivity with other Microsoft applications and platforms. This makes it ideal if you are looking for a project management tool that comes with a comprehensive ecosystem.
Microsoft Project features
1. Multiple project views
Microsoft Project offers several views for managing projects, making it ideal for project managers and teams. This includes:
- Grid View to plan and manage task lists
- Board View, such as visual Kanban board and others to help manage workflows and status
- Timeline Views such as Gantt chart and other timeline options for scheduling tasks over the project timeline
2. Advanced project planning templates
Project planning templates can help you quickly organize tasks and track project goals. Microsoft Project allows you to choose templates focused on Agile or Waterfall methodology and plan every project stage using the planning templates.
3. Portfolio oversight
You can gain clear visibility across multiple projects simultaneously using portfolio management features. This allows you to analyze performance metrics, make informed resource allocations, and ensure successful outcomes.
Microsoft Project pricing
On-premise/Desktop version
- Project Standard 2021: $679.99 (one-time purchase)
- Project Professional 2021: $1129.99 (one-time purchase)
Cloud-based solutions
- Project Plan 1: $10 per user per month
- Project Plan 3: $30 per user per month
- Project Plan 5: $55 per user per month
Summarize this article for me pleaseSmartsheet vs. Microsoft Project: Features Compared
Smartsheet and MS Project combine unique features to best assist you in getting the job done. So here is a head-to-head comparison of Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet to help you get a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each project management solution.
1. Collaborative features
Smartsheet has some exciting collaboration features, allowing you to provide row-level permissions, add comments, perform collaborative editing, and stay updated on the additions with real-time tracking. This makes it ideal for those seeking a user-friendly and collaborative project management tool.
Conversely, although Microsoft Project has robust collaboration tools, they are less intuitive. You can add comments, track changes, and even perform real-time updates, but these are limited and challenging to manage, especially with the desktop versions.
Winner: Smartsheet
2. Automation
Smartsheet offers no-code automation workflows to help eliminate repetitive tasks and save time. It also has a ton of pre-built templates for custom workflows, but compared to MS Project, it lacks the punch.
MS Project, on the other hand, offers advanced automation capabilities that are ideal for complex workflows and project management needs. It has customizable templates and built-in automation to leverage when creating new projects.
Winner: Microsoft Project
3. Project flexibility
Renowned for its flexibility, Smartsheet offers a sheet-based interface you can easily customize based on your needs. This helps you use the tool for budgeting, project management, resource tracking, inventory, and more, offering adaptable views to help you manage various projects.
Microsoft Project, however, relies on a rigid structure for its project development capabilities and has a steep learning curve. While it can provide multiple views, the complex structure makes it ideal only for particular projects.
Winner: Smartsheet
4. Advanced resource management
Since Smartsheet is focused primarily on the spreadsheet view, it offers simple resource allocation features. This can help you plan projects, track time, and get dynamic reporting. But compared to its competition, it lacks sophisticated resource planning and optimization features such as conflict detection, leveling, and more.
When it comes to resource management and allocation, however, Microsoft Project is a clear winner. It has advanced resource planning features that allow you to request and assign tasks, track programs and multiple project portfolios, and get pre-built reports to track resource allocation. You can even sync it with other apps like Microsoft Teams, helping you improve project allocation and task assignment.
Winner: Microsoft Project
Summarize this article for me pleaseSmartsheet vs. Microsoft Project on Reddit
So what are people on Reddit saying about Smartsheet vs Microsoft Project? When you look up Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet on Reddit, you will see many discussions on the ideal project management platform.
Most users agree that Microsoft Project is ideal if you already use Microsoft Office 365 or Microsoft Teams as your overall work management platform. One user said, “I’ve had experience in various program management roles. Each has its strengths, and the choice depends on your specific needs. Considering your team already uses MS Teams, integrating a project management platform that seamlessly works with Teams could enhance collaboration.”
However, Smartsheet has rave reviews overall, primarily because it supports multiple views such as lists, calendars, Kanban boards, and forms. Here’s a Redditor’s comment, “I have used MS Project, Monday, Trello and Smartsheet and although some of the listed ones do well within their specific tasking realm, Smartsheet allowed me to do many things well. Allowing me to treat projects as lists vs calendars vs a Kanban board and using forms. Certainly a little more learning as it’s a blank slate, less structure, but the lack of structure is also its strength allowing as much flexibility as you can handle.”
Summarize this article for me pleaseMeet ClickUp—The Best Alternative to Smartsheet vs. Microsoft Project
There is no clear winner in the tug-of-war between Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet. Smartsheet is flexible and has a lot of powerful features. It is a spreadsheet software that can also be used in task management, workflow creation, and project management.
On the other hand, Microsoft Project has deep roots in complex planning. It is ideal if you already leverage Microsoft products as part of your overall business and enterprise plans. It has a steep learning curve but can provide the same features and automation capabilities.
This is where an end-to-end project management platform like ClickUp can do wonders. An all-in-one productivity solution, ClickUp can combine all your operations in one platform. Thus, you can create tasks, automate workflows, track project goals, and manage your entire organization using a single software.
ClickUp features
1. Track and organize your work with the Table View
Go beyond the traditional table with ClickUp’s Table View, allowing you to create lightning-fast spreadsheets and powerful visual databases in minutes. Using this view, you can:
- Organize tasks and edit data in bulk with responsive, intuitive tables
- Create Custom Fields within ClickUp to track task progress, add file attachments, and 15+ other field types
- Connect databases and multiple fields by linking tasks, documents, and dependencies
- Format and share your table view with anyone, improving team collaboration
2. Ready-to-use spreadsheet templates
If you love using spreadsheets for your workflows and project tracking, you will enjoy working on the ClickUp Spreadsheet Template. This customizable spreadsheet template can go beyond the traditional tools, enabling you to do everything from simple budgets to complex project management, inventory tracking, order management, and more.
With this project management template, you can:
- Organize spreadsheets into one centralized system
- Track changes over time and collaborate with teammates
- Access and update your data from anywhere in the world with ease
3. All-in-one platform for projects
With the ClickUp project management platform, you won’t just get the essential features like other tools. Instead, you can get the best of project management, team collaboration, and task management tools, with advanced features to help you manage large teams, track due dates, simplify complex and large projects, and save time.
Additionally, you get advanced collaboration features to help you:
- Standardize and scale project management best practices
- Leverage ClickUp Brain’s AI power to streamline tasks and work efficiently with an AI project manager by your side
- Plan and prioritize with ease, getting deep visibility and multiple views on all your projects, helping you align them to company goals
- Collaborate better with shareable documents, live-tracking, and internal chat
- Increase efficiency with automation and reporting
ClickUp pricing
Did we mention ClickUp has a Free Forever plan, along with four other pricing options to choose from:
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7 per user per month
- Business: $12 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp AI: ClickUp Brain is available on all paid plans for $5 per Workspace member per month
Summarize this article for me pleaseProject Management for the Win
ClickUp is your ideal option to meet all your organizational project management requirements. Although Smartsheet and MS Project are great tools in their own right, ClickUp carves out a spot of its own due to its plethora of useful functionalities, AI integration, etc. If you haven’t tried it yet, we highly recommend you try it. Sign up for ClickUp today!
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