SmartSuite bills itself as the one platform for any process and any project, but it’s not the only work management solution out there. Plenty of other alternatives exist in the workflow automation niche, and they’re well worth exploring before you commit to or continue your path with SmartSuite.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at the best alternatives to SmartSuite available today. We’ll compare web-based workflow management, workflow automation, task management, and collaboration tools to bring you our ultimate list of contenders to try in 2024. 📚
What Should You Look for in a SmartSuite Alternative?
SmartSuite is a cloud-based automation and work management platform that covers a wide range of uses, including project management, HR and people management, marketing, and compliance. You might use it for all these features, or only a handful of them.
When you’re considering a SmartSuite alternative, consider the following:
- Ease of use: Is the platform easy to use? Is there a significant training requirement?
- Expertise: Does the new tool offer greater functionality in your area of focus?
- Customization: Is the new alternative more flexible? Can you customize it fully?
- Automation: Can the tool automate the tasks I require? Does it offer more than SmartSuite does?
- Pricing: Is the new tool affordable? Does it match your budget?
- Scalability: Can the alternative scale with you? Does scaling make it cost-prohibitive?
With so many products available in the workflow automation space, there are plenty of options for companies of any size, budget, and need—whether you’re a small business that needs HR management or a rapidly growing SaaS company that needs marketing automation software. Think about your own personal use and what your team needs, so you can build a shortlist of the best alternatives to try.
The 10 Best SmartSuite Alternatives to Use in 2024
The right work management tool makes it easy to get things done, work together as a team, and achieve greater success. Here are the best SmartSuite alternatives and competitors that can get you closer to your productivity goals.
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is a standout alternative to SmartSuite, as it’s also an all-in-one platform designed to increase your productivity and profit. ClickUp’s wide range of features makes organizing your work, managing tasks and resources, and collaborating with team members feel effortless. ✨
From campaigns to sprint planning, ClickUp Automations can streamline any operation. Our library of 100+ no-code Automations contains everything you need to simplify workflows, streamline routine tasks, and make project handoffs feel easy.
Use our pre-built Automation recipes as they are, or customize them with your own logic and custom statuses. Enjoy recipes that cover a wide range of uses—including task assignments, comments, status updates, and more.
Not only can you automate your work within ClickUp, but you can extend this functionality to other apps you use too. Bring your external apps—like Github, Slack, Dropbox, and Calendly—into your ClickUp workflow. The library of integrations continues to grow every month.
Beyond ClickUp Automations, the platform has so much to offer teams that want to stay organized and work more effectively. Use ClickUp Tasks for to manage personal and team tasks, visualize progress in your ClickUp Dashboard, and move your contact data to ClickUp CRM so you can run your customer relationship management system from the same place.
ClickUp best features
- Use ClickUp Automations and conditional logic to build powerful workflows
- Manage tasks, to-do lists, and business processes
- Set and track progress against project management KPIs
- Enable messaging and collaboration with your team in real time with ClickUp Chat
- Manage technical and creative projects
- Create Docs and spreadsheets to collaborate and share with your team
- Manage resources and team members’ time, productivity, and billable hours
- Set permissions and share projects to increase project transparency
- Take advantage of ClickUp Templates to get started quickly, including work plan templates
- Customize your experience with custom views, Custom Fields, and color coordination
- Integrate with thousands of external apps
ClickUp limitations
- With so many features and customization options, some users report that there’s an initial learning curve
- There may not be a dedicated integration for every external app, but you can always connect ClickUp to thousands of other tools with Zapier
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Business Plus: $19/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp AI is available on all paid plans for $5 per Workspace member per month
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (8,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (3,700+ reviews)
2. Flow
Flow describes itself as a modern project and task management software solution for teams. The platform brings together key elements like project management, conversations, and task management to create an all-in-one place to get work done. ✔️
Flow best features
- Manage tasks more effectively with automated recurring tasks
- Invite team members to projects and control privacy with permissions
- Customize projects with colors and icons
Flow limitations
- Some users report that sync can be slow across web and app versions
- You can only deactivate your account, so it’s not possible to delete account data
Flow pricing
- Basic: $6/month per user
- Plus: $8/month per user
- Pro: $10/month per user
Flow ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (50+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)
3. FunctionFox
FunctionFox is a timesheet and project management tool used for time tracking, boosting team productivity, and measuring overall value. This tool is ideal for creative professionals and teams that want to organize their internal planning and stay focused across multiple projects. ⚒️
FunctionFox best features
- Visualize the amount of work scheduled for every team member
- Track time using timesheets and a built-in stopwatch
- See which tasks are open and which have been completed
FunctionFox limitations
- Some users wish the functionality around automation and repetitive tasks was available
- There are few customization options
FunctionFox pricing
- Classic: $35/month for first user, then $5/month per additional user
- Premier: $50/month for first user, then $10/month per additional user
- In-House: $150/month for first user, then $20/month per additional user
FunctionFox ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (40+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)
4. Plutio
Plutio is an all-in-one project management collaboration tool that allows teams to track a project from start to finish. Users can prepare for projects, plan timelines, assign tasks, and send proposals to clients from one central place—making it ideal for teams and agencies. 🤝
Plutio best features
- Create a project automatically from a template once a contract is signed
- Use templates to create recurring tasks for tasks you run regularly
- Choose to automatically display an invoice, scheduler, or proposal after your client signs the contract
Plutio limitations
- Some users report that proposals can be slow to edit
- There’s no easy way to export data to other tools
Plutio pricing
- Solo: $19/month for one user
- Studio: $39/month for 10 contributors
- Agency: $99/month for 30 contributors
- Additional contributors can be added to the Studio and Agency plans for $5/month per user
Plutio ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (50+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
5. Nintex
Nintex is a process and workflow management software tool that uses automation to streamline processes and boost productivity. This business process reengineering and process mapping software tool allows users to discover opportunities to improve processes, automate them successfully, and continue to optimize and improve them. 🔗
Nintex best features
- Build processes and adjust workflows to be more effective
- Automate processes and have them run on a regular basis
- Create templates and customize them with no coding knowledge required
Nintex limitations
- Nintex specializes in process management, so it lacks some of the other features that the all-in-one alternatives have
- Some users report that there’s a steep learning curve
Nintex pricing
Nintex offers a variety of pro, premium, and custom plans for each of its six automation platforms:
- Pro: Starting prices range from $15,000-$35,000/year
- Premium: Starting prices range from $2,400-$60,000/year
- Custom: Contact for pricing
Nintex ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (700+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.1/5 (80+ reviews)
6. Process Street
Process Street is a standard operating procedure (SOP), checklist, and workflow management software tool. It aims to make process management simple, leading to greater operational efficiencies. Automate tasks, streamline processes, and take advantage of AI-powered workflow design to improve the way you work. 🙌
Process Street best features
- Set up repeatable processes to improve productivity
- Use conditional logic to customize flows within processes
- Visualize what’s coming next and track your progress
Process Street limitations
- Users have said the reporting options can feel limited
- Some report that a search function for documents and tasks would be useful
Process Street pricing
- Startup: $100/month
- Pro: Starts at $415/month
- Enterprise: Starts at $1,660/month
Process Street ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (500+ reviews)
7. Teamhood
Teamhood is a project management platform that brings all your work together in one place. The platform includes time tracking, workload management, scheduling, workflows and processes, conversations, and more. 📣
Teamhood best features
- Visualize your project progress across multiple views, including Kanban boards and Gantt charts
- Plan your time more effectively with estimated hours and algorithm-powered insights
- Automate tasks that you repeat regularly with recurring tasks
Teamhood limitations
- Users are unable to add files to comments within tasks, which could impact some teams
- Some users wish they could deactivate features that aren’t in use
Teamhood pricing
- Free
- Professional: $9.50/month per user
- Premium: $15/month per user
- Ultimate: $19/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Teamhood ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (30+ reviews)
- Capterra: 5/5 (10+ reviews)
8. Rippling
Rippling is a workforce management platform that specializes in human resources (HR), IT, and finance management. Manage employee benefits, payroll, and expenses with custom workflows that automate processes for a more streamlined experience. 🌻
Rippling best features
- Automate almost any HR, IT, or finance process with if/then automations
- Use custom triggers to build personalized workflows
- Connect to third-party apps to extend workflow automation capability beyond your Rippling data
Rippling limitations
- Rippling’s area of expertise is HR, IT, and finance, so if your area of focus is different, another tool may work better for you
- Some users wish the onboarding feature was more comprehensive
Rippling pricing
- Starts at $8/month per user
Rippling ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (2,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 (2,000+ reviews)
9. Workfront
Workfront is the project and work management software tool from software giant Adobe. The platform allows users to plan and run projects, manage budgets, and use automation for better process management. 💰
Workfront best features
- Assign and track tasks across team members, departments, and projects
- Use customized logic rules to sync data automatically across teams
- Manage expectations and automatically prioritize tasks with a built-in request queue
Workfront limitations
- Some say that there’s a large learning curve as a new user
- Users report the amount of notifications and alerts to your inbox can be overwhelming
Workfront pricing
- Select: Contact for pricing
- Prime: Contact for pricing
- Ultimate: Contact for pricing
Workfront ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.1/5 (900+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (1,000+ reviews)
10. Fluix
Fluix is a workflow automation platform designed to make it easy to digitize document processes and automate repetitive, routine tasks. Streamline everyday tasks like audits, inspections, training, invoice management, and more with Fluix’s task automation. 📝
Fluix best features
- Move away from paper documents, and switch to digital versions that you can annotate
- Design a personalized workflow that matches your specific needs
- Automate repetitive manual tasks, and track their progress until they’re complete
Fluix limitations
- Some users wish the form builder was more user-friendly for non-technical users
- There’s currently no Android app, although there is an iOS app available
Fluix pricing
- Fluix Core: $30/month per user
- Conditional Logic add-on: $5/month per user
- Power Analytics add-on: $10/month per user
- Form and Document Prefill add-on: $10/month per user
- Quarterly Review add-on: $50/month per user
Fluix ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (10+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (40+ reviews)
Streamline Workflows With a SmartSuite Alternative
SmartSuite is a great project management tool option that enables distributed teams to work more productively. That doesn’t mean it’s the only option, and this guide demonstrates just how many impressive SmartSuite competitors are out there. Use this guide to find the tool that most closely matches your goals, and enjoy the benefits of a more coordinated, productive, and well-managed team.
If you’re looking for a software tool that offers everything that SmartSuite does and more, try ClickUp. This all-in-one platform is filled with features that make project management, task management, and people management easy. Explore all the benefits, and try ClickUp for free today. 🤩